Je T'aime á la Folie
by HisAsgardianAngel
Summary: Peter Parkers aunt and uncle are brutally murdered by Hydra agents when he is just a child. Rescued by SHIELD, Director Fury only knows of two people who can currently take young Peter in, even if Mr. Tony Stark is hesitant about it at first. Newly married Steve/Tony, superfamily, lemon in later chapters. Follows both Ultron and Amazing Spider-Man arcs loosely.
1. Chapter 1

It was dark and damp on a cool mid-summers night. New York hadn't had a night like this in a while, the bright moon lighting up every street corner and glistening off of the busy cars and taxi's in the traffic that never slept. It was so quiet, almost eerily quiet. All that was to be heard was the gentle zoom of cars passing by and the rapid breathing of the couple heading frantically toward an apartment in the heart of the city. Mary Parker clutched her newborn son tightly against her chest, her heart breaking in half to be having leaving him only three days after his birth. She wasn't in much condition to go to work, but she had to do what she had to do. Her husband, Richard, was speeding, tears falling into his thick glasses steadily as he contemplated the situation at hand.

They were being followed, he knew they were being followed. His only hope was that he could get his son to his brother's house quick enough to lead their pursuers as far away from there as possible. Colonel Fury had an important mission for his wife and he, and it was a mission he didn't expect they would be returning from…if they even made it there at all. He practically turned their blue mini cooper on its side as he skidded to a stop quickly outside his brother's place and hopped out of the car. He ripped his wife's car door open and grabbed all of their son's belongings while she rushed him to the door and rang the bell.

Richard's much older brother, Ben, opened the door, his bright smile falling almost immediately as he saw the panic etched into his sister-in-law's face. He let her in without a moment's hesitation, not bothering with fruitless conversation. He knew his brother was a very secretive man, anything he asked would be either avoided all together or lied about. His wife May, however, well…she had never quite understood that.

"Mary? Mary what on earth is going on? You're scaring me!" She fretted, her aged face contorting into chagrin and deep concern as the young mother, who was sobbing harder than she'd ever seen before, wordlessly slipped her newborn baby into her arms.

"W-We need you to watch Peter for a while, that's all." Was all she said, kissing the top of the baby's forehead and turning toward her husband, who was dumping all of the child's belongings into the already cramped living room. Ben's face had now taken on a grim expression, knowing his brother wouldn't have brought literally everything that baby could possibly need if he was just going to be gone for 'a little while'. He exchanged a brief look with Richard, whose broken brown eyes told him everything he needed to know.

"Don't worry, you go. We'll take care of Peter until you get back." He smiled bitter-sweetly at his baby brother, who he knew he may never see again. He didn't know what his brother's line of work was, Richard wasn't allowed to say. However, Ben was no fool. He knew both his brother and sister-in-law lived dangerously, whatever they did, and from the looks of things they had stumbled into some trouble they couldn't get themselves out of. As much as it broke his heart, he had to let them go.

"Take care." Mary and her husband bolted out the door and slammed it shut, leaving the elder Parkers with nothing but the screeching sound of tires and a screaming baby. May brought the child closer to her chest and gently shushed him.

"It's okay, Peter, mommy and daddy will―oh!" She exclaimed, suddenly becoming aware of why the baby was crying so loudly. There was an enormous purple bite on one of his tiny hands and a small web-like string was attached to it, the most peculiar looking spider dangling from the end.

"Shoo!" May said in disgust, brushing the string into the floor and stepping on the spider. Ben sighed heavily and walked over, examining the welt on his nephews hand carefully.

"It probably hitched a ride on the poor thing from Richard's house…you know how he likes to experiment with those damned spiders when we isn't off doing god only knows what. Get in the car, we'll take him to a doctor. We don't know if the spider was poisonous or not." May nodded, rocking Peter gently in her arms in an attempt at soothing him. Ben went to the hallway closet and fetched their coats, helping May into hers as she wrapped a blanket tightly around Peter. They walked to the front door, but never made it out before the sound of shots rang and May's blood curdling scream fell upon deaf, uncaring ears from as far as five blocks away.

Tony Stark bolted upright in his bed, panting heavily as he fought to catch his breath. He could feel the strong, muscular hands of his husband rub his back in comfort and he closed his eyes.

"I didn't mean to wake you." Tony had married Steve Rogers no less than two weeks ago and this had been their first night home after their honeymoon in Paris. The two had begun dating after Tony's near death experience fighting Loki and Steve's rather…interesting CPR. The two had been inseparable ever since. Steve pressed a gentle kiss into Tony's neck.

"Je t'aime á la folie." Steve purred in the little French he had picked up on while he was there, earning a shiver from his husband who laughed weakly. He tried to respond with some sarcastic remark, per usual, but he couldn't, opting to simply bury his sweaty face into Steve's chest. Steve's bright blue eyes were laced with disquiet as he wrapped his arms gently around Tony.

"It's okay, I know what this is like. PTSD is no fun." Tony knew good and well that Steve had the terrors too, he'd been met with those not long after Steve had moved in. It brought him little solace to be reminded of his counterparts war induced baggage and he groaned loudly.

"Je tiens á vous protéger." He pouted. Steve laughed gently and cupped Tony's face, forcing the younger man to look him in the eyes.

"You do, Tony. I know you do." The couple's lips met delicately, lovingly. Tony wasn't sure if he would ever become used to the sweet feeling of Cap's tongue colliding with his. He moaned into his partner's mouth, feeling some of his tension ease up a little before his phone began to ring. Steve pulled away and was about to ask Tony not to answer it, but he'd already pressed the button.

"Bonjour." Tony said into the receiver, using the worst accent Steve had ever heard and smirking so bright it nearly lit up the room. Steve chuckled to himself, there was the Tony he had fallen in love with.

"Incredible. You marry Captain America and come back speaking French." Quipped the voice on the other line, which Tony recognized as belonging to Fury. Tony glanced briefly at the clock on his nightstand.

"What do you want? It's three AM…" Stark could practically hear Colonel Fury rolling his eyes at him.

"Don't pretend like you weren't already awake you mother-fucking insomniac. You've probably been in the lab all night." Normally that statement would have been absolutely right, but now that Tony had Steve as a bed partner he liked to at least try to spend a portion of the night curled against the solider.

"Yeah, yeah, spit it out." He grumbled, mouthing to Steve that it was Fury on the line, who was looking back at him in a worried sort of confusion. There was a sort of strange silence on the other end for a few moments before Fury finally found the right words.

"I hate to ask this of you, I know you and Rogers just got home but…you know what, just come down here, it will be easier if I show you." This perplexed Tony, his eyebrows furrowing as he put his hand on the receiver to talk it out with Steve.

"Uh, they want us down at SHIELD. Says he has something to show us." Steve shook his head.

"You just had a PTSD fit, Anthony Stark, I am not letting you out of this tower." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Baby, seriously? I'm fine." Steve didn't look so sure, chewing on his lip in contemplation. He took Tony's hand in his own, which felt considerably less sweaty that it had earlier.

"Ask him how important it is." Tony begrudgingly did as Steve asked. This is where the married couple often butted heads. Both felt like the dominate male, and both of them felt the need to be extremely protective of the other.

"He says it is life or death important." Steve sighed and lay the back of his free hand across Tony's cheek as if to check his temperature.

"You sure you're alright?" Tony's chocolate colored eyes melted and he nuzzled into his loves hand. He didn't answer, knowing his response to Fury would be more than enough.

"We're on our way."

It took Tony a lot longer to get to SHIELD's current base than he would have liked. He was used to going places in his suit, but at this hour Steve had informed him it would be rude to wake the sleeping citizens. So they climbed into one of Tony's many overly expensive cars, particularly a Lamborghini Veneno this time, and made the twenty minute trip down town. Steve had yet to see all of Tony's cars and he looked around in the cherry red vehicle for a while.

"Tony…how much did this car cost you?" Tony smirked, knowing Steve would freak out. Hell, Steve freaked out any time he saw gum being sold for two dollars at the drug store.

"Only 3.9 million, not the most expensive on the lot, but on up there I guess." Steve paled several shades and stared at Tony like he had gone absolutely mad.

"Anthony that is ridiculous." Tony snorted, pulling to a stop and climbing out of the car. He lazily wrapped his arm around Cap's shoulder as they entered the building.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to being married to a billionaire eventually." Steve rolled his eyes, but returned Tony's smug smile as they approached Fury, Agent Romanoff, and Agent Barton. There was something small and sniffling bundled up in Romanoff's arms and Tony narrowed his eyes at it.

"Is that a baby? I didn't know you and Bruce could―" One extremely sour look from Natasha told him he had definitely poked fun at the wrong time.

"I'm actually sterile, Tony, but thank you for reminding me." She growled, a tremendously apologetic look crossing Tony's face, though Steve piped up before his husband could further shove his foot in his mouth.

"What's going on?" Fury gestured toward the baby.

"What's going on is that young Peter here was just rescued by Natasha and a few other SHIELD agents after his aunt and uncle were murdered by Hydra members who were tracking his parents. Agents Mary and Richard Parker have not been located, so until I can get them flagged down someone has to keep the kid." Tony blinked stupidly for a moment at the small child, whose face he couldn't really see through all the blankets.

"They left him alive?"

"I don't think they were going too, but Nat and I knew that the Parkers were being trailed. Thankfully we got there in time to mend the situation." Barton interjected, looking over almost lovingly at the child.

"I can't keep him, I've got two kids of my own and another on the way…and Natasha is almost always on a mission when she isn't with Bruce. If you guys don't take him we are going to have to put him in foster care until we can locate his parents, and I don't think that's fair." Tony could see Steve's expression melting into a puddle of goo and he shook his head wildly.

"No no no no, Steve, we cannot keep a baby." Steve ignored Tony and reached out his arms, Natasha placing the young boy into his arms very carefully.

"Make sure to support his neck." Steve nodded and very gently pulled the covers away to get a good look at the baby's face. He had the most adorable chubby cheeks and wide, innocent hazel eyes. His little tufts of brown hair were sticking up everywhere and Steve was instantly smitten.

"Steven." Tony warned, his expression urging his husband to not get attached. They were NOT keeping this baby. Steve's eyes were filled with an intense emotion that Tony couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Tony we can't let them put this innocent baby in the foster care system…not when I know we can take care of him. Please…" Steve walked over and held the child upright so that he could stick him in Tony's arms in a way that would cause the baby to lay on his chest. Steve moved Tony's hands into the right places to properly support him and then backed away, waiting to see how his lover would react. Tony looked down at the tiny infant that was now cuddling into his shoulder. Peter made a tiny coo, attempting to get comfortable and grabbing hold of Tony's shirt.

"…." Tony was clearly having an internal battle with himself. Steve could see the little flicker of possibility in Tony's eyes and he quickly took the opportunity to ask a bunch of questions to pull on his heartstrings.

"How old is he?"

"Three days. They had really just taken him home good when Fury called them out for a mission. He didn't think it would play out like this…" Natasha replied, her eyes flickering over at Tony quickly.

"I hope they aren't dead. Orphaned at three days would be so awful…but we can only send out a rescue mission once we know Peter is safe." It seemed to be working, Tony was staring down at Peter with a soft, inquisitive expression.

"Just until you find his parents, okay?" Steve grinned, flashing a dashing smile at Director Fury.

"We'll take him."


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Steve and Tony made it home with Peter it was pushing four AM, though the small child appeared wide awake. Tony and Steve weren't sleepy either, especially Tony, who never went back to sleep after a night terror, so they didn't suppose this was an issue. Tony took all of Peter's belongings into the guest bedroom and Steve walked around their living room rocking Peter back and forth.

"How do you like your new house, buddy? Hmm? I bet it's really different from what you are used too, but that's me too. This is a new life and family for both of us." He cooed softly, showing the newborn around although he knew he was much too young to understand. Tony smirked to himself as he heard the conversation from the doorway, leaning on the doorframe lazily.

"Hopefully a better life, right?" Steve jumped a little, turning to look at his husband as Peter's tiny hands tugged on his white t-shirt gently. Steve grinned, a love-struck look in his eyes, watching Peter's as they stared back up at him.

"Especially for him. I can't even imagine what he must have been through already in the short period of time he has been on this earth." Tony walked toward them, grabbing Steve around the waist and pulling both man and baby against his body.

"Don't get too attached, okay? I don't want you to be upset when his parents come and get him. He's not ours." Steve was quiet for a moment. He didn't know why, but he really wanted a baby. He had always imagined coming home from the war with Peggy on his arm, going on to have two kids and a dog or something. Of course that didn't work out, and there was a part of Steve that was grateful, because he had found a love in Tony Stark that he never imagined he would feel. However, he still carried around that yearning for what he considered the American dream; a home, a few babies…the sort of all-American family you would see in ads on the fourth of July watching fireworks in the park. Why couldn't he have that with Tony?

"What if they don't come?" Tony sighed and kissed Steve's forehead, though he looked at him with a slightly scolding expression.

"Don't think that way. This little boy deserves to be with his parents, and they will come home safely to him, alright? If you want something to cuddle I will buy you a dog." Steve knew he was being selfish and nodded, although his heart was already full of so much love for the child. The emotion burning behind Steve's eyes made Tony feel bad and he decided to change the subject.

"His folks left him with a bag of toys, a few blankets, and a handful of clothes but that is about it. We are going to need to get some formula, some diapers, and well…I guess a crib." The way Steve's face lit up at the word crib made Tony's heart ache. _He really wants to keep this kid doesn't he?_ He thought to himself, glancing at his watch to see what time it was.

"It's way early in the morning, but squirt over there probably hasn't eaten since his parents dropped him off and I haven't eaten in a while either. Why don't we go pick up everything we need, see what restaurants are open at this hour and then feed him a bottle while we're waiting on our food?" Tony offered, reaching for the hand that wasn't cradling Peter.

"Okay."

It was about a thirty minute drive from where they lived in Midtown Manhattan to Brooklyn, but Tony knew how much Steve loved it in his hometown and wanted to make up for earlier. He decided they could pick up what they needed for Peter at the Shoppers World on Knickerbocker Avenue and then swing around for a bite to eat at the B.A.D. Burger restaurant on Grand Street since he knew it was open 24 hours. Steve thought it was funny that Tony claimed to not want to keep this baby since the moment they stepped into the Shoppers World he sort of went crazy. Tony had picked out a mahogany crib, a blue and red themed sheet set, a mobile with dangling stars, and a matching pillow with the letter P on it all in the first ten minutes.

"Tony…how are we fitting all of this in our car?" They weren't even finished shopping. Tony shrugged.

"We don't have to, baby, we have people for that." Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What?" Tony pulled Steve into a wet, sloppy kiss and chuckled gently.

"Don't worry about it, I'll handle it." Steve was about to reply when Peter began to cry loudly and he shushed him softly, cradling him up on his shoulder and tenderly petting his soft brunette hair.

"Well could you put the paint you're looking at in the buggy so we can get the rest of the items and go? I think he's hungry. Are we painting the nursery with that or are our 'people' doing that too?" He teased, earning a bright grin from his husband.

"Nah, we are painting it ourselves when we put the nursery together. You know just us…bonding time with baby and all that." Steve laughed and squeezed Tony's hand happily.

"Bonding time with the baby you aren't letting me keep?" Tony knew Steve was kidding, and he rolled his eyes at him, waving him off and putting the silver paint he had picked up in their cart.

"It can be a nursery for the puppy after Peter moves out. We'll even give it a P name to keep with the theme, how is that?" Now it was Steve's turn to roll his eyes. _Only you, Tony Stark,_ he thought. They walked quickly to the baby formula aisle while Steve attempted to sooth Peter's growing wails. He was rooting around on Steve's chest, which Steve found both hilarious and adorable.

"Tony, hurry…he's trying to nurse me." Tony burst out laughing, grabbing two containers of the most expensive formulas the store had and turning them over to see which were made from the best ingredients.

"Give me a moment, _mommy_ , I'm not buying him anything that isn't good for him. Powder formula isn't sterile, no one will be able to convince me that it is, and since neither one of us can breast feed I need to make sure the ready-to-feed stuff has the right nutrients." Steve beamed, in awe at how completely unaware of his own fatherly instincts Tony was.

"Well alright then, _daddy_." Tony pulled out his phone to google whatever the hell "gentlease" meant, discovering that it was easier on the stomach and modeled after breast milk as opposed to cow milk, so he picked up a 24 pack of Enfamil Gentlease for ages 1-12 months and dropped it into the buggy.

"Do you think that will last us, or do I need to get more than one case?" Steve shrugged, a deer-in-headlights sort of look coming about him as he realized how little he actually knew about babies. He looked over at a young woman standing near Tony who had a small child on her hip.

"Ma'am, might I ask you how long a 24 pack of formula is going to last?" She glanced at Peter and shook her head in what could only be described as sympathy.

"For a baby that young? Three days. They eat every 2-3 hours until about month two." Tony silently reached for four more cases, his eyes wide in absolute shock. No wonder Peter was hungry. They got some diapers and then they were done, Tony pulling out his phone and dialing a number Steve didn't recognize.

"Yes, I need the staff to come and pick up items I have paid for at the Shoppers World in Brooklyn, immediately. I want them in my home before Steve and I get back from our meal, is that understood? Don't be late." Tony hung up and instructed a worker to sit the items in layaway until his employees arrived to ship them to the tower. Steve stared at him.

"And you're used to this?" Tony clearly didn't understand, blinking at Steve for a moment before remembering their conversation from earlier. He snorted, pulling Steve into a gentle kiss and resting a hand lovingly on the back of Peter's head.

"You will be too, eventually. Now come on, let's fed our son before he wakes up the whole city." Tony knew his slip of the tongue in calling him their child would not go unnoticed by his counterpart, but he didn't care. As long as Steve was happy, he was happy. It wasn't too long a drive to the restaurant and Steve fixed the formula easily at the table once they were seated.

"Do you want to feed him?" He asked Tony as they glanced over their menus. Tony might have been trying really hard to make this whole temporary parent thing work, but he wasn't so sure he was ready to get ultra-attached.

"No thanks, babe. Cuddles are your thing." Steve cooed at Peter as he tried to get him to latch on to his bottle, and when he finally got him situated he pressed a kiss into his messy hair.

"Suit yourself."

"Do you want me to order for you?" Tony offered, realizing Steve couldn't really look at the options while he was feeding Peter. The couple had been together for going on four years, he knew what his soldier did and did not like. Steve nodded in appreciation, though his eyes never left the little boy guzzling milk hungrily in his arms.

"Poor baby was starving…lord only knows when his last feeding was before he even reached SHIELD." Tony smirked as the waitress walked up to take their order.

"He'll be alright, he's a fighter." The waitress got out her order sheet and a pen and Tony continued.

"I would like a whiskey on the rocks and my partner is going to want tea, iced but unsweet. Then I would like a bacon and BBQ burger, hold the veggies, and Steven will take the apple burger with extra bacon, no walnuts. Fries with both, please." Steve glared at his husband.

"Tony we've talked about this, you're allowed alcohol once a day." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Steve, we've talked about this, you aren't my mother." He mocked back, an irritated silence falling between them. Were they always going to bicker like this? The waitress left with their orders and the only sound that could be heard for several minutes was the gentle suckling of their foster child on his bottle. When it was empty Peter let out a small whine and Steve pulled him up on his shoulder to burp him. It was startling to hear such a loud burp come from such a tiny body and it broke the ice, both men bursting into laughter.

"Jeez, kiddo." Tony used his napkin to gently wipe some drool and formula from the corner of Peter's mouth and his heart melted a little when he noticed the small yawn that was forming on the little ones face.

"Steve, I think you should put Pete in his car seat carrier thing…he's falling asleep." Tony said gently, pointing at the car seat they had carried him inside with. Steve nodded and strapped him in safely, covering the top with a blanket and sticking the carrier in between his and Tony's seats. It was about that time that they were brought their order.

"These burgers are huge!" They each took a few bites and Tony nodded.

"Delicious too." The couple exchanged small talk for a good majority of the meal. They talked about official Avengers business and whether or not they thought Natasha and Bruce would remain a thing, what Clint was going to name the new baby…just random things. However, talking about Clint's unborn child got Steve thinking, and while he knew it was probably something that Tony didn't want to talk about again today he just couldn't help himself.

"So riddle me this, Tony…I realize that it is ethically right to return Peter to his parents if and when they return from whatever mission Fury sent them out on. But is that the reason you don't want him? Or are you trying to tell me that you don't want children at all?" Tony, being Tony, completely deflected the question and took an unnecessarily long sip of his whiskey.

"Was that a Batman reference? Have you been into my movie collection again?" Steve sighed heavily and shot Tony a look.

"Tony answer me. Do you or do you not want to have my baby?" Tony couldn't help but laugh out loud at that.

"Don't ever say that again, that was weird." Tony's tone and expression was playful, but when Steve didn't play along his smile fell and he looked down at his hands.

"C'mon, Stevie, you know why." All the years that the two of them had been together Tony had only ever called him that once, when we was shit faced wasted and severely depressed. Steve's eyebrows knitted together in concern and he ran his fingers through Tony's unruly black locks.

"If I knew I wouldn't be asking." Tony looked away from Steve and into his nearly empty plate, contemplating whether or not to go into this tonight. He didn't want to, but he also knew his husband well enough to know he couldn't leave it like this and get away with it.

"Steve, you knew my father. That should be more than enough for you to figure out why I don't want any children."

"Yes, Tony. I was friends with Howard, pretty damn good friends with Howard. He was a noble man…minus the time I was mad at him because I thought he was fondueing with Peggy, but that's beside the point." The blank stare in Tony's eyes frightened Steve, who couldn't seem to get him to look at him no matter what he did.

"You obviously didn't know him very well, then, did you?"

"Your father once drove a fighter plane through an air raid just to make sure I―" Tony cut him off.

"Yeah? Well then if he was so great maybe you should have married him instead!" He shouted, immediately regretting it as he saw the hurt that flashed across Steve's face. He stood slowly, pushing his chair in and throwing his napkin down on the table.

"Maybe I should have, at least he wasn't afraid to be a man." Steve stormed away from the table and headed for the door, stopping only when Tony called out "You left Peter!" He turned slowly, bright blue eyes full of tears as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Leave him here. You don't want anything to do with him anyway." He ran out the door before Tony could say anything else. Stark grabbed his beverage and slammed the glass into the table hard, glass shattering all over the place as he screamed profanities loudly. He threw a one hundred dollar bill on the table and lifted the handle to Peter's car seat.

"Alright, Pete. Looks like it's just you and me now."


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: This chapter is dedicated to my grandfather, who died of colon cancer two months ago. I love you.**

Tony carried Peter out to the car and strapped him into the base, climbing in and revving up the engine. He had scoured the parking lot, and Steve was nowhere to be found, probably had gone running somewhere, the man could run obscene distances in only a few minutes. What worried Tony about this was that he had no way of knowing where he might have gone. He sighed, locking the car doors and resting his forehead against the steering wheel.

"Why do I always do this?" He wasn't sure if he was talking to himself or to Peter, but he continued anyway. Peter was making noises, having been woken up by Stark's shouts from earlier, though he wasn't crying.

"I don't mean to lose my temper with him you know? And in his defense I've never really talked about my issues with my dad. But damn it Pete, he's not the only person adjusting to this life. I'm not used to having someone to care about, not since Pepper and I―well, I failed her." Pepper Potts had died just short of Tony asking her to go steady with him back in 2008, she had become sick with colon cancer. No matter how much money Tony invested in getting her in to see the best doctors in the country, she was stage four and there just was no stopping it. Tony had never forgiven himself. There was still a part of him that was terrified, would always be terrified of not being able to save Steve were anything to ever happen. Or worse…he was afraid of being the cause of it.

"Hang tight back there, okay? We're going to go visit a friend of mine and then we are going to go looking for your…" He trailed off, he had been about to say looking for your _daddy_ but shook his head hard to wipe the thought away. _He is not ours_ , he reminded himself sternly and pulled the car out of B.A.D. Burger's parking lot. There was a retirement home just a few miles down the road housing a withered and near death Peggy Carter. Peggy had been a SHIELD operative alongside Howard Stark after World War II and had acted as an aunt to Tony for much of his childhood. Peggy and Maria had been Tony's rock through Howard's abusive years, though it was eventually the alcoholism and abuse that drove Peggy away. He hadn't seen her in years, but who else did he have to confide in right now? His only other friend besides his husband and JARVIS was Bruce, and he was probably shagging Natasha or destroying a city, there was no in between for him. Tony pulled to a stop and got out, unbuckling Peter and carrying him inside in his arms as opposed to unstrapping the car seat for a second time.

"C'mon, buddy." He whispered gently, making sure the baby was swaddled in many blankets, as it was a little chilly out, and held him tightly against his chest as he ran inside the nursing home and asked for Peggy's room number. He knocked on the door gently, his heart nearly stopping at the face he saw as the door opened up.

"Steve?" The super-solider blinked at Tony for several moments, a dumb-founded expression on his face.

"How did you know I would be here?" Tony looked just as shocked as Steve.

"I didn't…I came here to see Peggy." Steve looked both confused and suspicious, but he backed up and allowed Tony entrance into the room. Peggy's entire face brightened.

"Oh Tony…that can't be you." He smiled kindly at his elderly friend, sitting down beside her and taking one of her hands with the one that wasn't supporting Peter.

"Hi Aunt Peggy, how are you feeling?"

"Oh I'm wonderful, sweetheart, have you met my Steve?" She asked sweetly, absolutely breaking Steve's heart. They had just been having a conversation about what she thought he should do about the Peter situation, but her Alzheimer's had apparently already caused her to forget. Tony cracked a smile and looked apologetically at Steve, though the soldier appeared emotionally unresponsive.

"He's my husband." Peggy giggled and looked happily between the two.

"Aw, how precious! You didn't tell me you were married!" She said to Steve, whose crystal colored eyes inwardly shattered, though he didn't dare correct her.

"Is the baby yours?" Steve gave a bittersweet laugh and looked anywhere but at Tony.

"You'll have to ask him that, Peg." Tony sighed heavily and shrugged his shoulders at his aunt.

"It's up in the air right now, that's honestly what I came here to talk to you about…advice. But I see Steve beat me to it. You two served in the war together right?" This seemed to send Peggy into a state of nostalgia and she smiled fondly, as if remembering the fondest of all her memories.

"Oh, honey, we did more than serve together. Steve was the sweetest, most charming soldier I ever did meet. I think if given the opportunity we could have been so much more…but h-he had to fly his plane into the ocean a-and I never saw him again." She choked, putting a wrinkled hand to her mouth to muffle the sob building in her chest. Tony was about to apologize for bringing it up but she suddenly stopped, looking doe eyed over at Steve and gasping.

"Steve! You're alive! You came back!" It was then that Tony realized what was going on and his heart absolutely broke. Steve grabbed her other hand and squeezed it very gently, a few tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Of course I did. I couldn't just leave my best girl, now could I? You owe me a dance." He kissed the side of her cheek and met Tony's gaze with a hardened expression.

"I think we should go." Tony nodded and bid Peggy a farewell, following his husband out the door and softly closing it shut.

"You have some explaining to do." Steve barked once they were outside, not bothering to wait until they were soundly back in the car. Tony looked at him like he was crazy, what in the world had he done wrong now?

"Me? What do I have to explain? You're the one that never told me you _dated_ my aunt Peggy!" Steve blanched at the very thought of the two of them being related.

"Well _you_ never told me she was your aunt! Howard never once mentioned having her as a sister!" Tony shook his head.

"She's not biologically my aunt, Sherlock, she was close to my dad and used to take me out for some air when things between he and I got heated, does that answer your question?" Steve threw his hands up in the air.

"No, actually, no it doesn't. I still don't understand why and how everything tonight has become about your father! What did he do, Tony? What could he possibly have done that―" Steve had pushed too hard, he knew it the moment he saw that expression cross Tony's face. Tony exploded.

"He beat me, Steve! Repeatedly! I don't know what happened to him, but he reached a point in his life where he was drunk all day every day and it didn't matter what I did to make him proud, nothing I did was ever good enough. Is that what you wanted to hear? Is it? Because I don't want to hear about all the wonderful things Howard Stark did, or that he loved me or some sort of bullshit like that because so what if he did love me? It doesn't change anything, doesn't make what he did better. After he died I received a recording of his voice telling me I was his greatest creation, and for a moment I felt like we had the relationship we had had when I was very small…I felt so loved. But then I remembered and I still haven't fully forgiven him. I don't know if I ever will. Happy?" When Tony finally finished he took a long, deep breath. He was attempting to calm his breathing, choke back his tears. He didn't want to cry, though he had now startled Peter, who was screaming and that pushed him over the edge.

"I'm so sorry. So sorry." He cooed in a hushed sob, holding Peter's face gently in the crook of his neck and shushing him tenderly. Steve didn't know what to say or do, feeling both intense guilt and a sense of understanding. It made sense why Tony didn't want to have a baby, he could see it written all over his face as he swayed with Peter in his arms. He was afraid of becoming Howard.

"Tony I…I didn't know." Stark nodded, his eyes full of remorse for everything that had happened at the restaurant.

"I know you didn't, I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gone off on you like that earlier." Steve shook his head and pulled Tony against him, capturing his lips roughly and flicking his tongue against Tony's mouth. Tony allowed him entrance and they explored each other's familiar depths for a good while.

"We don't need a child if you truly don't want one. But I want you to know that if your only reasoning behind not wanting one is your fear of becoming your father, then don't you worry about that. I know you inside and out, you could never harm a child as long as you lived." Tony's dark eyes were filled with an unspoken promise of sorts and he grabbed Steve's hands firmly.

"You do want one though, I know you want it badly I can see it in your eyes. I'm not going to deny you that if you can just promise me one thing. If I ever so much as raise my voice at our child I want you to hit me as hard as you possibly can, square in my face, do you understand me?" A bubble of excitement rose in Steve, but he didn't want Tony to do this for him and then be miserable.

"I would only accept that if you promised me something in return. I don't want you taking this on if it's not something you really want too. I know you're afraid, but if that is not the only reservation you have you need to tell me right now, and promise me we won't be adopting any child into our home that you aren't going to want." Tony thought about it for a moment, a small smile forming on his face as he felt Peter sniffle and stick one of his tiny hands into his mouth.

"Steve…the only other reservation I have is that I don't want any old baby from an orphanage. Damn you, despite my sincerest efforts to detach myself…If we're going to have one, I want this one." He whispered softly, earning a bright smile from his partner.

"I want to adopt him." He agreed quietly, laying his hand lovingly on top of the hand Tony was using to cradle Peter's head. Tony's heart was so conflicted, he didn't know what to do.

"Why do I always want the things I know I can't have?" Steve smiled, although he was saddened by the idea of Peter's parents coming to take him away.

"Well now, you thought that about me once didn't you? And here we are, four years later, happily married. This could work out too, you never know." Tony laughed, though it sounded bittersweet and strange.

"Do you know how awful it makes us to wish for that?" Steve shrugged.

"I don't want anyone to die, I would never wish for that. However, I'll tell you what I do want. I want to talk to his parents when they get back, I want to see how much time they are actually planning on spending with their son now that his aunt and uncle are dead. Who will take care of them while they are on missions? Who is going to raise him? You know what it is like working for SHIELD. Natasha and Clint are almost never home. Maybe they will recognize that we are in Peter's best interest as parents." This time Tony's laugh was a little cheerier, rolling his eyes as his husband.

"You dork, you really think they are just going to gift us their baby?" Steve laughed too, opening their car door and taking Peter from Tony to strap him back into his car seat.

"I can wish, can't I?"


	4. Chapter 4

In light of gay marriage being legalized in all 50 states as of today, expect an amazing surprise chapter when I get home from my vacation! I am so happy!


	5. Chapter 5

Tony Stark woke up that bright July morning with a grin on his face. The air was cool and crisp and he looked over to find that his husband was still asleep beside him, the son he supposed he had secretly always wanted curled up sweetly on top of his chest. Steve's massive hands were securely resting against Peter's head and back, the three of them cuddled into a ball in Tony's enormous bed. It had been a month since the baby had come into their home and still no word from Fury, though neither were complaining.

"Wake up, Capsicle. I have a special day planned for us." He urged gently, playing with the ends of his lovers blonde hair. When that didn't work he licked his finger and stuck it in Steve's ear.

"Damn it, Tony!" The sudden jerk of his body woke Peter, who began to cry softly. Tony flashed an apologetic smile.

"It's time for his bottle anyway." Steve, who didn't really watch the television unless Tony drug him to a movie, had no idea what on earth had gotten in to his partner. He stared at him expectantly, bouncing Peter soothingly in his arms.

"Have you not seen the news? Gay marriage has been legalized in all 50 states as of today." Steve didn't seem to understand exactly what that was supposed to mean so Tony continued.

"Did you not realize the only reason you and I were allowed to marry is because we live in New York? Now the entire country will recognize us as a family." The smile that stretched across Steve's face was warm and he leaned in for a tender, chaste kiss.

"And let me guess, the playboy billionaire philanthropist wants to have an extravagant celebration?" Tony smirked.

"Something like that." What Tony really wanted to do was finalize an adoption on Peter, though he knew he would have to go poking around to find out more on the status of Mary and Richard Parker. So his plan was to send JARVIS and a few physical employees to investigate the situation while he treated Steve and Peter to a romantic breakfast and then to take Peter to Peppers grave, as if to ask for her blessing. Tony loved Steve with all his heart, but there wasn't a day that went by that he didn't think about Pepper. She had been his very best friend.

"I have the whole day planned, you ready?" Steve ran his fingers through Tony's tousled raven hair and pressed a kiss into his beard.

"Okay." Tony sighed happily, running his fingers along a small circular scar on Peter's hand.

"Did you ever figure out the cause of that bite he had when we got him?" Steve asked curiously, gazing at the strange wound while Tony continued to absentmindedly fiddle with it.

"No, I would have had to take a sample from his hand and run it through the lab. I didn't want to do that to him unless it was necessary and he seemed healthy." This was true, especially now. He had grown into a happy, chunky little one month old baby, not a care in the world. He had even began to smile a little bit, particularly at Tony, who he had ironically become most attached to.

"I don't blame you. Interesting bite though." Tony shrugged and looked at the clock.

"We gotta get going babe. Come on, let's get dressed." Steve buttoned up a flannel shirt and Tony pulled on a Metallica tee and a black button up, though he left it undone. They put Peter in his blue and red one-see and strapped him into his car seat with a stuffed shark and a teething ring.

"Tony do we have to take the shark? I know you want him to be some Jaws loving cinephile like you, but he's a month old!" Tony laughed at the annoyed look in his husbands eyes and kissed him quickly before pulling open the door.

"Don't be like that. I know you're still pissed at me for showing him that film but come on, he won't remember it, and he loves the shark plush..." Steve rolled his eyes.

"He only loves it because YOU gave it to him. If I had given it to him he'd have thrown it—" It was Tony's turn to roll his eyes.

"Oh hush and get in the car. He gives you the same amount of attention that he gives me." Steve chuckled and opened the car door to put Peter inside.

"If you say so." They drove in a comfortable silence for a while, enjoying the buzz of familiar New York traffic. Steve was growing more comfortable sharing a life with Tony Stark, who was still the same sarcastic asshole he fell in love with, only now with a growing sense of family and what it meant to be a father. It suited Tony more than he would probably ever realize.

"So you gonna tell me where you're taking me?" He finally asked, breaking the silence and enjoying the Cheshire Cat grin that crept onto his lovers face.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Cap snorted, gazing out the window in content. He loved being married, and he was quickly learning how much he lived for the peaceful, loving moments like this. The moments where he and Tony weren't bickering or fighting off some sort of common evil...moments that were just the three of them. Steve was lost in this thought when he felt the car roll to a stop and Tony reached tenderly for his hand.

"All aboard." He muttered near seductively, wiggling his eyebrows at the soldier in just the way he knew he hated. Steve's mouth nearly dropped...and here he thought he had gotten comfortable with Tony's lifestyle. They were sitting in front of a private jet and he honestly didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry, the jets fast. We will be home in no time."

"Where are we going?" Steve whispered breathlessly, a love stricken expression crossing Tony's face as he watched the wonder etched into his captain's eyes.

"Just to a little private, romantic beach in California for breakfast." Tony replied as if it were no big deal, though it was obvious that it was a huge thing for Steve.

"You treat me like a dame." He said with a lopsided smile, to which Tony burst into tearful laughter.

"Well baby, as far as I'm concerned you're my mrs." Steve punched Tony playfully but didn't respond, glancing protectively at their baby in the backseat. He was still awake, sucking happily on the teething ring and making the cutest sounds in the world.

"You think he will be alright?" Tony squeezed his hand.

"I wouldn't have brought him along if it were unsafe." They reached California in no time at all once everyone was on board and seated. Peter had really seemed to enjoy the flight, which made Tony happier than he would ever admit. The little squirt had made noises at everything he saw out the window, donning that toothless grin that both men had fallen in love with. The sun was rising with a shimmering radiance upon the sparkling waters of California's shore.

"Wow!" Steve exclaimed as he walked off of the jet, Peter in tow. Tony's smile only broadened, knowing that his husband had never been to the beach. It was something they had talked about on their honeymoon, that all of Steve's war time traveling had taken him many places, but he had never once had the time or luxury to visit an actual beach.

"Take your shoes off, Stars and Stripes...have fun." Steve did as he was told and shivered a little at the feeling of the cold sand between his toes. Tony pulled out a blanket and what appeared to be a packed breakfast and sat them down near the water's edge.

"Well what do you know, Tony Stark actually picnics." Tony snorted and winked at the other male.

"Only picnics of the best quality." Steve didn't really understand what he meant until he opened the bag up to see what was inside. Tony had packed a bottle of champagne and Ziploc bags full of gourmet waffles. Steve wanted to roll his eyes but there was a warm feeling in his veins at the romantic gesture and he leaned in for a heated kiss instead. It was long, passionate, their tongues colliding roughly as Tony's hands flew into Steve's hair. They stayed like that for what felt like forever before Peter reminded them of his presence. He squealed loudly, pulling on Steve's shirt in impatience. They both laughed.

"I know he's hungry. Did you pack his bottle?" Tony nodded and pulled it out of his bag, already made.

"Of course, I didn't leave him out." Tony wanted to feed him, which was a rarity, so Steve happily handed Peter to him and poured himself a small glass of champagne. He watched as a funny emotion seemed to pour into Tony's smoldering chocolate eyes. It was intense, a sort of pained adoration that wounded Rogers more than Tony would ever know. It was the expression he had always worn around Peter. The kind that says 'I love you but we both know how this ends'. Steve was about to assure him that everything would be fine, but Tony broke the silence first.

"Pete probably wants to touch the water. We should take pictures, this is his first time too." He said as he lifted him up on his shoulder to burp him.

"Yeah seems like he and I are doing a lot of firsts at the same time." Tony laughed at that, a little of the pain in his eyes easing slightly.

"That's what you get for being 70 years late to the party." Steve decided to ignore that remark and hop up, running out into the water.

"Come and join me then slow poke!" He splashed some water around and grinned wolfishly at Tony, swinging his hips around a little as he did so. The sun was now a little higher in the sky and it highlighted the blonde in the soldier's hair, the entire atmosphere around him seeming to glow.

"Come sit down you dork. You're embarrassing our son!" This of course was untrue, as little Peter was quite contentedly running his small fingers along the sand, as if trying to figure out the mysterious substance. He brought his dirty hand up to Tony's face, who thought his confusion was cute.

"It's just sand, buddy."

"See? He doesn't care!" Steve had now resorted to kicking up the water in a rockette motion, doing a sexy little dance that Tony was sort of afraid would give him a boner.

"I'm embarrassed enough for the both of us." He teased. Steve had anticipated Tony's refusal to play along and he flashed a boyish, charming smile that nearly knocked the breath out of Tony.

"Fun fact...I was a show girl back in '42 before they promoted me to Captain." Tony had to put his head in the hand that wasn't holding Peter in an attempt at stifling the heavy laughter building in his chest.

"Who's strong and brave here to save the American way? Who's here to fight like a man for what's right night and day?" Tony couldn't believe it. Steven Rogers-Stark was dancing and singing. In the ocean. About to strip. Tony shook his head in disbelief at that last thought and did a double take, watching hungrily as Steve slowly unbuttoned his shirt and swayed that bubble butt in his direction.

"Okay, you asked for it." Tony lay Peter safely on his back on the blanket and ran toward Steve, jumping onto his back and knocking him backward into the ocean. They rolled around for a while, Tony ending up on top of the man he loved as they floated.

"You're the man with a plan, eh?" Tony purred, sticking his hands into Steve's jeans and giving a nice squeeze.

"I guess I am." He leaned in to suck gently on his neck before JARVIS interrupted via Tony's watch. He half groaned half moaned and pouted at his interface system.

"Sir, pardon me but Master Peter has been left unattended." Steve smirked.

"I appreciate the baby sitting, JARVIS, but we can see him from here. He's still happy as a button with the sand...we should bring him to put his feet in the water though." Without a moments more thought Tony pulled away and ran to go get the baby and take his picture. As he did this JARVIS elaborated.

"That's not all, Sir. I've done what you asked of me. I have a status report on the Parker's." Tony looked back at Steve to make sure he wasn't paying attention before replying.

"And?"

"Deceased. Although it appears SHIELD is withholding the information, you may want to speak to Director Fury regarding your plans for the young master." Something about that made his blood boil. Who gave SHIELD the authority to keep those records from him? Weren't they the ones that asked him to keep Peter in the first place?

"I want the full report. How and why did they die and a name for all your sources. Now. We are adopting this baby."


	6. Chapter 6

They played with Peter for a while in the water and took a lot of wonderful pictures, drying off and warming up in the jet afterwards, which had a fireplace. With Peter all bundled up and warm and the jet nearing New York, Tony decided to fess up about the conversation he'd had with JARVIS earlier.

"Steve, babe, we need to talk." The soldiers eyebrows furrowed and he rubbed Tony's arm in concern.

"What is it?"

"JARVIS gave me a status update earlier and um...Peter's parents are presumed dead and/or missing in action. Their plane was sabotaged and two burnt bodies were found nearby." Steve didn't know how he felt about that. On one hand he could feel an excitement coursing through him because this meant they could possibly begin an adoption process, but on the other it hurt him to know that the sweet child he had learned to love so much would never ever know his birth parents.

"Well...what do we do now?" Tony sighed, his eyes never leaving the now sleeping child that was nuzzled into Steve's chest.

"Well, that's not all. Apparently our jackass of a leader has been withholding the information from us. The Parker's files were sealed, took JARVIS forever to hack into SHIELD's archives." Steve gripped Peter a little tighter, the news was very unsettling. All he wanted was the ok to sign some paper work and make him part of the family, he wasn't looking to start world war three.

"Well, technically I am the leader of the Avengers, not Nick. I don't care what position he holds at SHIELD, if I make a call to Coulson he will listen." Tony wasn't so sure about that, as much as Phil loved Steve, he didn't seem like the type to compromise his job on a whim.

"You wanna go to the SHIELD base before heading home?" Tony shook his head.

"No, we need to change Pete's wet clothes before he gets sick, and I wanted to swing by the cemetery." Steve raised an eyebrow.

"The cemetery?" Tony didn't look like he wanted to say why, but Steve continued to look expectantly at the billionaire, who had his eyes glued to the floor.

"Pepper. I want to show him to Pepper." He didn't say anything else, but he didn't need too. Steve knew what she had once meant to him. He hadn't known Tony when she died, he was still in the ice, but he had heard plenty...it was awful. In the end she didn't even wake up to say goodbye she just...slipped away. Tony didn't speak a word to anyone but JARVIS after that for several months, and maybe he would have stayed that way were it not for Natasha, who he met and had a brief sexual relationship with about a year later.

"Okay. Pepper first, then we will get Peter changed and fix him a bag since we don't know how long we will be at SHIELD." Tony suddenly got a very spiteful expression and folded his arms across his chest.

"You sure we should even bring him? I was going to suggest asking Bruce to babysit. I don't particularly enjoy the thought of director Fury being in close proximity with Peter. I mean, he is withholding the information for a reason and I've said it once I've said it a million times...Nick Fury's secrets have secrets." Steve shot Tony a knowing look.

"So you can't trust Fury, but you can trust a man whose temper endangers our child's wellbeing every waking moment? All it takes is one too many dirty diapers or a cry too loud to handle for the tenth hour in a row...people snap sometimes when they aren't used to infants."

"Bruce isn't the monster you all seem to think he is. It takes a lot more than a screaming baby to make him lose control, he's my best friend. Besides, Peter is a good natured kid, even the first week we had him when he was in a new environment he wasn't much of a crier." Steve didn't seem so sure, although he sort of agreed that Fury was a little too secretive for his taste, especially after finding out during Loki's attack that he had authorized SHIELD to make weapons of mass destruction using the Tesseract.

"Listen, we don't even know where Bruce is right now. Let's just take Pete with us, and whichever one of us happens to be holding him then isn't to let go of him. We won't let anyone take him, Tony, we are his parents as far as I'm concerned." Tony grabbed a cigarette from his pocket and popped it in his mouth with a grunt.

"That's the problem Stevie, we aren't technically his parents." Steve dismissed him with a wave of his hand and took the unlit utensil from his husband's lips.

"Don't smoke in here, it's bad for our son. If you have to do it at all wait until we land." Tony rolled his eyes but didn't argue, sticking the cigarette back in his pocket with a slight pout. Tony didn't smoke as often as he drank, not nearly, but he was stressed. He wasn't looking forward to any confrontation, and if anyone tried to take his baby boy away he was going to fight till his last breath. Tony damned Steve for blurring the line, for making him unable to see the Parker in Peter. All he saw was a baby, his baby...Peter Stark. That's it, and that's all he would ever see when he looked into those innocent, wide hazel eyes. Hell, he had put more time and effort into building the nursery and taking care of Peter than he had anything else in his whole life.

"Steve." It was all he said, but all he had to say. One look at the sheer, palpable fear and suffering bleeding from Tony's expression was enough for Steve to grab him by his shirt and pull him into a tight hug. Tony's emotions were always buried so deep inside of him, and he never spoke about how he was feeling. Steve knew this, he had learned quickly and had adjusted to interpreting his counterpart's body language long ago. What was so unnerving in this situation was that Steve had forced Tony to wear his love on his sleeve this past month in the process of trying to get him to accept how he felt toward Peter, and if the child was ripped from them now he knew Tony would never recover from it. He very softly pressed a kiss to Tony's lips and rested their foreheads together.

"You stop that, stop worrying. All we have to do is ask for the paper work, Tony. Peter's parents are dead and he has no other living relatives since Hydra took out Ben and May Parker, so who better to keep him than the family that has had him almost since day one, hmm? They can't deny us that." Tony didn't verbally respond, though he nodded and took a deep breath. They were preparing to land, so he grabbed the diaper bag and asked Steve to make sure the Shark and the rest of Peter's play things were securely off the jet's seats before the seatbelt light went off and they both stood.

Next stop on the list was Pepper's gravesite, which was a subject of great debate among the Potts family. Pepper had been living with and working for Tony, as well as shared a romantic relationship with him when she passed, and Tony had felt that it was his place to properly bury her. He wanted Pepper to rest beside his parents in a large cemetery near Stark Tower, and Pepper's parents had agreed because it was a nice plot but the majority of her family was sore about it. Every chance they got her family hounded Tony about overstepping boundaries and that he should have left her burial to them, which only made a bad situation worse. Tony didn't need to feel any more guilt than he already did, but visiting her spot beside his mother and father tore him up inside a little anyway. However, he wasn't here to dwell on his feelings regarding the Potts's and he silently reached for Peter once they arrived.

"Hi Pep…I know it's been a while, and I promise I'll change out those flowers for some fresh Belladonna Lily's very soon, okay? I know they were your favorite." He sat down with Peter in his lap and Steve watched quietly to the side, feeling extremely sorry for his husband. The headstone read 'Virginia "Pepper" Potts, loving daughter and companion, April 26th 1980-March 28th 2008.' Tony glanced from it to his mothers and back, as if unsure of who he wanted to speak to first.

"I owe you both an apology. Mom…you raised a genius. I got top marks in all my classes, graduated from high school early…built this tower from the ground up in your honor and powered it with inventions you would have been proud to see. So tell me why I wasn't smart enough to see through Obadiah? I should have protected you and I didn't, and I'm so so sorry. As for you, Pepper…I failed you too. I tried so hard to get you the treatment you needed and it wasn't enough. But I promise you both this, I will protect this child will all of my might and I will be the best father that I possibly can be. You aren't looking at Peter Parker anymore, you are looking at Peter James-Buchanan Stark and he is the greatest thing that has ever happened in my 45 years on this planet. I just wanted you to know." Tony didn't cry, quite the contrary. He felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of his chest, and he sat contentedly for a moment, enjoying the feeling while it lasted. Steve on the other hand had choked up and he blinked away the tears in his eyes before attempting to speak.

"James-Buchanan?" Tony nodded.

"I'm not a fool, Steve. I know how much you loved Bucky, you loved him the way I loved Pepper and I respect that. He was special to you, and I want it to be Pete's middle name." Steve smiled and looked down at the ground, his heart swelling with so much affection it nearly hurt.

"Then if we ever have a little girl we'll call her Ginny, how is that? I always thought that was a cute nickname for Virginia." Tony chuckled, though his eyes hadn't left Pepper's headstone.

"I like the sound of that."

They headed to change everyone's clothes after that and before they knew it they were walking up to the SHIELD Unit's front door. Both men were a little anxious, despite being Avengers they didn't much care for dealings within the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. It was a place full of secrets and lies and various other things that neither wanted to be part of. The people at SHIELD did good things for the nation, no one was saying they didn't. But Steve and Tony didn't trust them as far as they could throw them. They were met immediately by a set of Agents guarding the facility, who sent them on their way after running their prints through a computer database. They then walked down a winding corridor to a bleach white room housing none other than Colonel Nick Fury himself, just the man they wanted to see.

"What can I do for the Rogers-Stark clan?" He asked almost cheerily, flashing a friendly smile though Tony's scowl was enough to alert Nick of the situation at hand. He wasn't born yesterday, he knew Tony had hacked the system.

"Don't play stupid with me, Fury. I want answers. Now." A heavy sigh came from the Director and he shook his head, the look in his eye steely and unforthcoming.

"Why don't you tell me? I know you stuck your nose in where it doesn't belong, you're good at that." Tony laughed though it didn't meet his eyes.

"I am not playing this game with you, everything that has to do with Peter is our business, alright? He's our kid, we are the ones responsible for him, and damn it if I want to know what's going on in his life then I will find out with or without your help."

"That's a nice sentiment, Tony, only one issue. He isn't your kid." Tony's jaw hardened and Steve felt his body tense next to him. Steve laid a hand on his shoulder gently and shot Fury a look.

"What he meant to say is that we wish you would have told us about Mr. and Mrs. Parker because we are interested in adopting Peter." Fury snorted and folded his arms across his chest.

"Is that so? Listen, I'm grateful that you took him off of our hands for a little while but you and Stark are a temporary home. You're both walking time bombs with the amount of baggage and danger you carry with you, he's less safe in your hands than he was with his parents and you saw how that ended. Peter deserves better." Tony exploded.

"Better? Like some sort of shit foster home is going to be better than everything I can provide him with? You listen to me, he has survived a month of life longer than he would have living a "normal" life with his aunt and uncle. Peter can't have a normal life, his parents being who they were already ruined that. He needs to live with someone who can keep him safe and we are more than capable." Fury was surprised at the outburst. He had not anticipated Tony Stark of all people to become this attached to a baby.

"People around you die, Tony. I hate to be blunt about it, but that is the way it is in our line of work. When you dedicate your life to the greater good, sacrifices have to be made. The only thing that will keep Peter safe, especially in his condition, is the changing of his name and his relocation to a low-key foster home." Steve decided to interject before Tony could erupt once more, sensing the rage boiling under his husband's skin.

"What do you mean, in his condition? He's perfectly healthy." When Fury didn't respond Tony lost it, grabbing him by his jacket and lifting him angrily up off of the floor.

"You tell me what's wrong with my boy right now, or you might just lose your other eye." Steve didn't bother to pull Tony back, he knew Nick was much too shocked to retaliate. Steve wasn't as surprised as he probably should have been, well aware of Tony's protective nature and the fact that Fury had pushed all the wrong buttons. There were certain things you just didn't say to Tony, and the mention of him being responsible for the death of another human being was one of them.

"You mean to tell me you really didn't take a biopsy of Peter's spider bite? Some father you're shaping up to be, it could have killed him." Fury spat, Tony's grip tightening almost inhumanly.

"You think I'm kidding…" He growled, earning an eye roll from the colonel.

"He was bitten by a radioactive spider. His father's research with Oscorp was on gene splicing and creating the perfect genetic hybrids. All the test subjects previously had died, so it never went to human trials. We don't know what the effects will be on Peter, but Hydra does NOT need to get their hands on him."

"Tony let him go, now." Steve said very suddenly, Tony sitting Fury back on his feet begrudgingly. He was about to ask for a reason when Steve hauled off and clocked Fury in the face.

"How dare you." Was all he could say, a look of intense betrayal in his crystal blue eyes. Anything to do with Hydra was supposed to be reported back to him immediately, they were his enemy above all else and now that it involved his son he was livid. If anyone could defend a child against Hydra it was him, not some unsuspecting and unarmored citizen. He turned on his heel and grabbed for Tony's hand.

"We're leaving." Fury got up and pleaded with them to wait, but it was far too late now for civilized conversation. There were a lot of things in Tony's life that were uncertain and unstable right know, but he knew one thing for absolute fact; his Captain was pissed.


	7. Chapter 7

The following morning Steve woke early, looking to his side to find that he was alone. He got up and walked to the nursery, peaking in to make sure Peter was still soundly sleeping. The little guy had his thumb in his mouth, his tiny arms wrapped around his Shark plush and his deep blue blanket wrapped securely around him. Steve smiled and softly closed the door back, walking off in search of his husband. Steve had gone to bed rather late and Tony had promised to join him, though Rogers had a feeling he never did. Normally when this happened it was because Tony had been building all night, though to Steve's surprise he wasn't in his mechanic room. The only other feasible place to look was the lab, and if Tony wasn't there Steve was about to be very worried. He walked in, seeing an incredibly tired Iron Man rubbing his eyes and fretting over some sort of algorithm written out on a piece of paper.

"Another all-nighter? What are you working so hard on, amoureux?" The French pet name rolled off of his tongue delicately as he pressed a gentle kiss into the crook of Tony's neck. Tony's mouth was full of Chinese food that he had ordered at three that morning, some lo mein noodles hanging out of his mouth lazily as he continued to stare at the paper.

"I nweed ta fwigir this ut." Steve burst out laughing and turned Tony's computer chair so that the genius was facing him.

"Tony, swallow that. What are you trying to tell me?" Tony chewed slowly and slurped the mouthful down his throat, rubbing his tired eyes before smiling lovingly up at his solider.

"I said I need to figure this out." Steve picked the equation off of Tony's desk and read it, then reread it and read it again. All of those Greek letters made his head hurt.

"How is this math? There are no numbers…" Tony snorted and took the paper back, laying it on the table and pulling Steve into his lap. He nuzzled sleepily into his shoulder and sighed.

"I've spent all night searching for Peter's Dad's affiliation with Oscorp and this is what I found, this one unsolved decay rate algorithm that has never been worked out properly…it's the reason cross species genetics keeps failing." Steve seemed to think for a moment, looking at the enormous digitized mess that JARVIS had pulled up from all of Tony's research.

"Why are you trying so hard to solve it? This isn't exactly your field of work, Anthony. Tell me what this is about, hm? Is this about proving your worth? I know Fury got under your skin, but you don't need proof that you're more of a man than Richard Parker or that you can make up for not taking a biopsy of Peter's bite, it would have been cruel to do so when he wasn't sick, you made the better call." Tony frowned slightly and ran his fingers through his facial hair.

"I want to figure it out because I want to know what I'm talking about when I march my ass into Oscorp today. Richard Parker was working with a man known as Dr. Curt Connors and I am going to ask to see his research. I want to find these spiders, Steve, and I want to run my own tests on them. If I can do this then I will be a step closer to knowing what to expect from our son if something were to go wrong. This has nothing to do with my worth, but everything to do with his. The answer to this formula can save our baby's life, Steven. If the spider's DNA is a part of him now we need to be prepared to handle any possible illnesses that might have bred into his genetics." Steve picked up the paper again and held it between them, kissing the corner of Tony's mouth.

"Alright then, let me help. Can you explain the letters to me?" The mathematics involved in the algorithm was far too advanced to even explain to Steve, and Tony knew that, but he wanted to humor his love. So, he decided to explain the simple function of each letter and let Steve think on that while he tried to sketch out more possible outcomes. It was while he was explaining the meaning of the letter Phi in accordance to the golden ratio that Tony began to feel a little bad. Steve was trying to hard to understand, but it was obviously going way above his head and he was looking pretty discouraged.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be so…ignorant." Tony shook his head furiously and captured Steve's lips, chuckling lightly against his mouth and pulling away to gently cradle the soldier's cheek.

"Not stupid, just old. Old and beautiful and all mine." Tony said breathlessly, resting his head on Steve's shoulder as the latter burst into a fit of laughter.

"You're really sleepy, aren't you? It's a wonder you can even think about things like logarithms in this state." Tony's head jerked up suddenly, kissing his husband once more, hard and fast as a bout of excitement seemed to pour out of him.

"Logarithms! That's it, you genius!" Steve blinked at him for a few moments while he wildly scribbled all over the piece of paper. By the time he was finished the paper sported a formula that looked something like this: ØØ ф=к Σ π · exp(g i (I-Ea)j-i / (j-i) ! (I-Ea)j) log (g exp (-xt))

"Tony that looks like a load of gibberish so I hope your math is right." Tony snorted and smiled at his lover.

"My math is always right, go get Peter and get him dressed, we have a trip to make." Tony ran to the kitchen to make himself some coffee and possibly wash it down with a Monster energy drink if need be, he needed to be coherent when he went to go speak to the fellow scientists. Meanwhile Steve picked out an outfit for Peter once he got him up and got his diaper changed. Steve and Tony had very different taste in clothing, but he picked out something Tony had bought since the billionaire seemed to be working awfully hard for them to keep their son at the moment. He buttoned him into a black onesee that had a grey and black checked tie and suspenders printed on it and tugged on some black and grey knee socks and a black beanie. Steve had to admit that Peter did look kind of adorable in the outfit and he picked his sleepy little one off of the changing table to lay him on his chest.

"I've got Peter, are you ready?" A much perkier Tony emerged from the hallway and wiggled his eyebrows at Steve. He seemed a lot fresher, and he had taken a moment to quickly change into clean clothes.

"Quite. Pete looks epic in that outfit by the way, I told you he would." Steve just rolled his eyes and carried the child outside to the car. Tony was wearing a tight, sexy grey suit with a scarlet red tie, he had wanted to make a professional impression since Oscorp was currently his only business competition in the industrial field worth worrying about. Sure, Oscorp had nothing on the technology coming out of Stark Industries, but they were renowned in various science fields, including the manufacturing of some of the world's best nanobots. Steve on the other hand didn't own many suits beside his Captain America one and the uniform he wore in the War, so he had opted to wear a nice teal blue button down with his trusty old brown leather jacket, hoping it was acceptable enough for a formal meeting with a scientist.

Oscorp Tower was a sight to see, enormous and shiny, the logo sparkling almost iridescently in the sunlight at they drove up to the front gate. Steve turned to Tony with a reassuring smile, though it was hard to contain the slight wonder in his eyes at the sight of the building.

"Ugliest tower I've ever seen." Tony knew what he was doing, but he played along. He stuck his lips out in a pout and pulled his sunglasses down a little to expose his puppy eyes.

"You would rather live in Stark Tower, you promise?" Steve chuckled and reached over to bite those pouty, gorgeous lips lovingly.

"I'm sure Oscorp doesn't have silky carpets in the penthouse perfect for late night fondue…why would I wanna live anywhere else?" Now it was Tony's turn to fly into hysterical laughter, surprised at his normally prim and proper counterpart.

"I knew those carpets were a good investment." They got out of the car and unbuckled Peter from his car seat, the child cooing happily at his fathers as he grabbed on to Steve's shirt. Peter's motor skills were getting better and better as the days went by and it was becoming a little easier for him to grip things. Steve kissed the top of his head and took Tony's hand as the couple approached a security patrolman guarding the front door. His ID badge was labeled "Arthur Stacy" and the gentlemen quickly held his hand up as they attempted to enter the building.

"I'm afraid I'll have to stop you here, Sirs. Children are not permitted inside the facility." Tony narrowed his eyes at the man, though it was impossible to tell through his dark shades.

"Excuse me, but do you have any idea who―" Arthur Stacy cut him off.

"Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries and… _partner_ of Captain America. Yeah, all of America knows who you are pal, but you aren't getting in here with any baby, it's a biohazard. Nothing personal." Tony thought it was something personal alright, he had practically gagged on the word partner as he had forced it out of his mouth. He bet Norman Osborn was sitting at his desk right now with his kid son Harry, the birth announcement had been all over the news. Tony opened his mouth to retort rudely but Steve quickly interjected.

"Listen, we aren't going to be around any of the chemicals, we would just like to have a brief word with―"

"For the last time, Captain Fairy, babies are not allowed inside the building. If you have an issue why don't you take it to my brother at the NYPD?" He quipped, a surge of anger building inside of Tony that Steve could sense from a mile away. He laid a hand gently on Tony's arm and leaned in to kiss his cheek, much to the security man's disdain.

"It's okay, I maybe I will take Peter to the park or something, he'll be better entertained there anyway." Tony nodded with a heavy sigh and handed him the keys to their car, trudging past the guard and fighting every urge in his body to knock the homophobia right out of him. It wasn't often that they were met with situations like that, Tony wasn't used to it. Once inside the building he read the directory and headed toward the elevator, taking it to the 13th floor and walking in to quite the shabby laboratory if he did say so himself, his was much nicer. There was a blonde gentlemen in a ratty old lab coat fretting over some sort of three legged mouse at a desk near the back of the room and Tony walked over almost hesitantly.

"Um…hello? Are you Dr. Curt Connors?" He looked up, startled, and quickly put the mouse back into his cage.

"Um yes, terribly sorry, Mr. Stark. What can I do for you?" He extended his left hand to shake and smiled apologetically.

"I would shake with my right like a proper man, but…" He gestured toward the nub he sported in place of a right arm and Tony nodded sympathetically.

"That's alright. Is that why you keep the company of nubby mice?" Steve would have hit him in horror at a time like this but oh well, Tony was Tony and Steve wasn't there. Dr. Connors was taken back slightly by the boldness of the comment but brushed it off quickly.

"U-Um, well, it is part of the reason I am hoping to regrow his arm, sure. His name is Fred." Tony was quiet for a moment, looking from the deformity of the doctors arm to the mouse and then up at the electronic mainframe listing the failure of the current compound Connors was using.

"Is this part of your trials for Cross Species Genetics?" Dr. Connor's face lit up in both astonishment and a little distrust.

"How do you know about that? The information isn't yet public." Tony shot him a look.

"Let's just say that I am in some trouble regarding Richard Parker and I am in serious need of your help." Curt was now thoroughly perplexed and Tony could have sworn he saw hope leap into the scientists eyes at the mention of his coworker.

"You know Richard? I would love to help you in any way I can, Mr. Stark, but could you tell me where Parker is? He really is the key to all of this…" This request made Tony more than a little bit uncomfortable. He didn't like to be the bearer of bad or serious news, that really wasn't his style. He looked down awkwardly at the floor.

"He's dead. Plane crash." Connors hand flew to his mouth in desperation, his ocean orbs filling with tears as he attempted to come to terms with the news.

"I'm very sorry, then. I can't tell you anything about our research beyond the little trials I have going here with lizard DNA. As you can see, I can't perfect the mutation. Richard did it, he bred the most amazing spiders, but he took all of that with him when he left…terminated all the spiders. I don't have a copy of the mathematical equation necessary to replicate it, he didn't even leave me with that. I've never been able to solve it and this has been my life's work for twenty years." Tony's eyebrows furrowed at that and he thought hard for a moment before replying.

"Why were the spiders terminated?" Dr. Connors shrugged.

"I wish I knew. Richard killed them all and fled, Norman Osborn was furious. I've been put under a lot of pressure this last month to try and replicate it but I just can't. I'm afraid if this goes on for too much longer I will be replaced." Tony felt guilty, digging around in his pockets for the piece of scrap paper he had written the formula on.

"What is this?" Connors asked as he unfolded the sheet.

"You are looking at the complete Decay Rate Algorithm. You're welcome." Dr. Connor's couldn't believe his eyes, taking off his glasses to get a closer look.

"This is remarkable…how did you come up with this?" Tony smirked and tapped on is head with two of his fingers, earning a small chuckle from the other man.

"Of course, you're Tony Stark, why did I even ask that? How can I ever repay you?"

"Just call me if you find out anything on the spiders, okay?" Dr. Connors nodded excitedly and ran to test the algorithm in his computer, Tony deciding to leave him to it and give Steve a call.

"Baby, I'm gonna take the Subway home but I thought I would just let you know that there is something strange going on here…and by strange I mean completely corrupt. Every ounce of Richard Parkers work has been wiped clean, it's gone. I want to know why." Steve huffed into the receiver.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to pay Stacy's brother a visit after all." Tony snorted.

"You aren't seriously thinking about taking this to the cops are you? You realize I can easily…" He trailed off, hearing a beeping in his ear as Steve hung up the phone. Tony couldn't….well, actually that wasn't true, he could believe it. Steve Rogers tried to do everything by the book, and he was a good man because of that Tony supposed. But Tony had never pretended to be good, only great and he knew this was nothing a little illegal activity couldn't fix.

Steve headed to the NYPD's station absolutely fed up. He didn't care if this got him on SHIELD's radar in a bad way, the police needed to know what was going on. That's what was right. No one stopped him at the door, despite his infant, and he hastily made his way to the office titled "Captain Stacy". He knocked three times, only opening the door when he heard the invitation. The Captain was obviously not expecting an Avenger in his department, though he smiled friendlily at him.

"What can I do you for, Mr. Rogers? Or is it Stark now?" Steve took a seat and made himself comfortable, rocking a squirming Peter.

"Both, Sir. I go by Rogers-Stark." Captain Stacy simply hummed in vague interest.

"Welcome to the NYPD, Mr. Rogers-Stark. I assume this is important?" Steve didn't really know what to say, he just knew that he wasn't happy.

"Well, Sir…I think something awfully suspicious is happening at Oscorp involving a Mr. Richard Parker. I have been told by certain sources that his research has been destroyed following both his death and the death of his brother. I am very concerned for the well-being of everyone involved, I do not take acts of terrorism lightly. I want to know where that research has gone, to insure it hasn't fallen into the wrong hands. There ought to be a thorough investigation, well known scientist don't just up and torch their life's work, someone is going to a great deal of trouble to cover their tracks and I think I know who." This was certainly a new one for George Stacy, it wasn't everyday a so called superhero marches into your office preaching about terrorists.

"Whoa, who said anything about acts of terrorism? The deaths of May and Ben Parker are being investigated, we haven't found their murderer yet, but we have decent suspects at the moment. As for Richard, as far as we know he has fled the country, who told you he was dead?" Steve shook his head.

"You really don't know, do you? A group of nefarious terrorists who have been operating in this country since World War II is running around and taking people out right under your nose, unbelievable! For god's sake, look into Curt Connors, or Norman Osborn, I'm telling you there is something there. Men with children don't just disappear like that…they don't." Steve insisted, pleading with his eyes as he cradled his baby. Steve just wanted justice, that's all he ever wanted.

"I don't mean to be rude, I'm grateful for your service Mr. Rogers, but are you sure you aren't just a little biased? I mean it seems a little fishy to me that the one company you accuse of terrorism happens to be your husband's greatest competitor. Now if you will excuse me, you caught me on my way out, my little girl is sick and my wife is too ill to care for her at the moment." Steve kicked the Captain's desk furiously, unable to help himself as he let himself out. He was raving mad by the time he made it home, practically kicking down their own door, though Tony seemed quite at ease when he walked in, happy even. Tony smirked and made a proud declaration.

"I know you get tired of waiting on computers, but honestly, you married a genius, enjoy the perks." Steve closed his eyes and counted to ten, he didn't want to fight with his husband just because he was mad at someone else.

"What are you talking about, Tony?" His exasperated tone didn't dampen Tony's spirits, who smugly gestured grandly toward his database with both of his arms.

"I've already hacked Oscorp." A Cheshire like expression crossed Steve's face, which was an unusual demeanor for him.

"What did you find?" Tony's countenance mirrored his own.

"We need to call Bruce."


	8. Chapter 8

When Bruce arrived at the tower it was dinner time and Steve was happily pilfering through dinner menus while Tony was working on whatever it was he wanted to show Banner and Peter was finishing his afternoon nap. Steve wasn't quite used to the idea of take-out, but he was swiftly growing addicted to it, especially since it removed the hassle of trying to rush to eat before Peter's nap time and/or walking around with a fussy baby on the occasions that Peter didn't sleep well.

"I think I want to get boneless wings from Pizza Hut…do you and Bruce want a medium pepperoni?" A ghost of a smirk crossed Tony's lips and he chuckled a little as he was showing Bruce to his equipment.

"Baby, they aren't messing around when they say Buffalo Burning Hot…are you sure you can handle it? And nah, Spangles, we're men we want a large." Steve rolled his eyes and Bruce burst out laughing.

"You two really are an old married couple…" Steve ignored the comment, though he was smirking and he called to place the order. He glanced at the clock, wondering when his baby boy would wake up, he wanted to cuddle. Tony was now about to explain everything about Oscorp to Bruce, and since he hadn't enlightened Steve yet, the soldier took his mind off of Peter for a bit to listen.

"When I hacked into their computer database I found out that they have been lying to Dr. Connors the entire time. Richard Parker took all of his research with him, that part is true, however Oscorp extracted the DNA from all of the spiders and killed them off to make it appear as if there had been a major setback in their discovery of cross species genetics. Now if you ask me, this is awfully suspicious considering that if you take a peek at Norman Osborn's medical records, you'll see that he has recently been diagnosed with Retroviral Hypodysplasia, which he is trying to hide." A light bulb seemed to almost visibly go off in Dr. Banner's head.

"That makes sense. Why else harvest and keep secret god only knows how much radioactive spider venom while risking damage to the company's image because they 'lost the research'?" Tony nodded.

"Exactly. It would seem Mr. Osborn is attempting to heal himself…and he is using Dr. Connors like a tool to do it." Steve's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean? I didn't think Connors knew."

"He doesn't, that is the issue. They're using that poor bastard as a cover while Norman experiments on himself using Parker's research." The three of them were quiet for a moment, each contemplating their next plan of action.

"Does that mean he will be like Peter?" Tony shrugged.

"Pete hasn't shown any unusual side effects from the bite yet, he might be too young. I'm afraid we're gonna have to wait it out without testing his blood, and I refuse to do that. No needles are going into my sons arm without necessity." As if on cue, Peter cried out from his nursery and Steve shot up off of the couch like a rocket. Even Tony felt inclined to rush in and get a glimpse of those first precious moments after he wakes up where his hair is all messy and he is rubbing his little eyes, but he didn't want to look whipped in front of Banner, so he didn't budge. Bruce saw through him though, cracking a grin and hitting him playfully in the side.

"Does this mean you're keeping him?" Tony sighed, but a ghost of a lopsided smile crept onto his face.

"I'm fighting pretty damn hard. Fury let me keep him too long for him to not expect me to love him. It's cruel to try and take him from us now." He admitted honestly, looking on Steve with adoration as he entered the room with their yawning little one.

"Are you gonna take it to court?" Tony snorted.

"A custody battle with SHIELD? Yeah, that would work out _so_ well. Technically it isn't their place to have Peter in their custody anyway, so I guess the last resort would be marching into DSS and asking for an attorney. It'll be nasty if that happens, though. Since Peter was brought into Nick's care right after the murder and is the primary reason the child got landed with us, he would be called to testify to our parenting skills I'm sure. He would be merciless and call it justice for Peter, and I'm not dealing with that." Bruce nodded in understanding and laid his hand on Tony's shoulder.

"Whatever happens I have your back, Tony. If you need me to bring the Big Guy smashing through the courthouse I will." He joked, causing both parents to burst into laughter. Peter grinned as well, though he no doubt had no idea why everyone else was laughing and Steve pressed a kiss to his forehead lovingly.

"Such a sweet boy." Tony gave Bruce a side hug and a fist bump.

"Thanks, man." It was about that time that JARVIS announced that he had buzzed the Pizza Man inside the building and Steve got up to get his wallet off of the couples bedside table. He smoothed out Peter's messy hair while he was at it and bounced him in his arms soothingly as he opened the couple's front door. There a man stood with a name tag sporting the name 'Cas'.

"That will be $21.63." Tony quickly dropped what he was doing to retrieve the pizza and wings since Steve had his hands full with Peter and they paid/tipped the man before shutting and locking the door back. The food smelled great and it was more than enough to distract even Bruce from the work at hand. Tony sat the boxes on the glass table in the living room and then went to go fix Peter a bottle while everyone else got settled.

"So I understand what Tony is trying to do and prove, but what exactly does he need me to do?" Banner asked curiously as he dipped his pizza in some ranch dressing and brought it to his lips. Steve didn't really know, he had been out talking to Captain Stacy when Tony had made his breakthrough with Oscorp's system. He shrugged, but Tony had overheard as he walked back in and handed the bottle to Steve.

"I need you to help me use the Decay Rate Algorithm to replicate the spider DNA. I want a sample of the venom to run through my diagnostics because at this point in time we have no way of knowing how much of the foreign species takes over once a bite has been implemented." Bruce looked Peter up and down carefully, watching as he made your everyday baby noises and happily sucked on his bottle.

"I would say little to none, Tony. The kid doesn't seem affected at all. Are you sure that the spiders Parker created were altered properly?" Tony nodded.

"All of this wouldn't be such a dirty little secret if he hadn't been successful." Banner opened his mouth to say something when he caught a glimpse of Steve out of the corner of his eye. The soldier's eyes were watering and his face was scrunched up in a highly uncomfortable expression. He was going to ask if he was alright when Steve quickly reached over and planted one on an unsuspecting Tony, who of course eagerly opened his mouth to his husband. When Steve pulled away he looked slightly relieved and took a large sip of Pepsi. Tony was now chewing the boneless wing that had been in Steve's mouth prior to the kiss and Bruce couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or gag. Tony lovingly wiped some hot sauce from the corner of Steve's mouth with is sleeve and chuckled.

"I warned you they would be too spicy, Stevie." He swapped places with Steve on the couch so that he could eat the wings and Rogers could share the pizza with Bruce instead. Bruce put his head in his hands and shook it, though he couldn't stop himself from grinning.

"If this is what love does to you I might need to have a talk with Natasha." Tony snorted and popped another wing in his mouth.

"No, this is just what marriage does to you. Kind of hard to live with someone like this and not get super comfortable. I mean really, if I were opposed to Steve's mouth germs this relationship would never work. I require a make out session at least twice a day." Steve blushed darkly and pretended to ignore the conversation as he burped Peter and Bruce laughed even harder.

"You know, Tony, I really didn't need to know that." Tony just smirked and wrapped his arm around Steve's waist. It was then that Bruce suddenly remembered what he had been about to say earlier.

"Why don't we just steal the spider venom from Oscorp instead of going through the trouble of making our own?" Tony began to look excited but Steve quickly shut it down with a stern look and a gesture toward Peter.

"Absolutely not. We are trying to get custody of Peter, not get him taken away." That was a good point, Tony supposed. A criminal record was the last thing he needed were he to get caught. Bruce sighed and looked at his watch, it was getting later in the afternoon and he had somewhere he needed to be.

"Well, I have to go. Nat wanted me to go out and get some things for her apartment for later tonight. I wrote down a copy of the algorithm while we were working with your equipment earlier so I'll take it home and work on it in my own space, alright? I'll see what I can do." Tony nodded as he swallowed the last of his dinner.

"Thanks, man." Bruce left and Tony reached for Peter, he hadn't held him much that day. Steve handed the baby over and enjoyed eating the remainder of his dinner with free hands, watching his husband lovingly as he did so. Tony stood and got down on his knees, laying Peter on his back on the soft couch cushion. He buried his face in the little ones tummy and made a funny noise, surprising the child enough to cause his tiny hands to grip the sides of Tony's facial hair. Peter hadn't learned to laugh yet, but he let out an excited coo and kicked his tiny legs, encouraging his daddy to do it again. Tony nuzzled the baby and repeated the action, chuckling as he felt his son's small feet brush his arc reactor energetically.

"Do you like that, Pete?" He asked softly, taking his small hands within his own and bringing them to his lips to kiss. Peter's eyes were full of laughter and it warmed Tony's heart. He was going to miss this so badly if they took Peter away. By now Steve was done eating and decided to join in on the fun, making sure he gained his baby's attention before pointing at Tony.

"Who is that, hmm? Is that your Daddy? Can you say Daddy?" He urged gently, knowing full well that Peter couldn't, though he adored to hear him babble and play with different sounds.

"Aaaaaaa!" Variations of this were all Peter had learned so far, Dada and similar sounds were just a little bit out of his reach at the moment, but both parents grinned at him anyway.

"What about Papa, squirt? Do you know your Papa?" Tony asked encouragingly, watching as Peter's eyes followed his finger to Steve's face. He smiled widely and Steve leaned down to press a kiss to his forehead.

"Good boy!" Peter's eyes began to get a little heavy and Tony puffed his bottom lip out in a pout.

"You can't be sleepy…you just got up, come on, little man." Steve laughed and nodded in agreement as those precious hazel eyes fluttered closed.

"Babies sleep so much." Tony shrugged.

"I'd rather have a kid that likes to sleep than one that likes to cry." Steve scooped him up into his arms and stood.

"Agreed." Tony stood too, walking with Steve as he walked into the nursery and laid Peter back in his crib. They stood and watched for a little while as he cuddled up to his shark plush and his dark blue blanket. Tony reached for Steve's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"I love you…and god do I love him." Steve responded by wrapping his arms around Tony's neck and leaning his forehead against the others. They gazed at one another contentedly for a few moments before Steve replied.

"We love you too." A small smirk crossed Tony's lips and he pulled Steve's body closer to his, his hands roaming freely against his soldier's chiseled abs.

"Can I have that make out session now?" Steve smacked him.

"You idiot…" He trailed off, grabbing Tony by his hair and forcing him into a rough kiss, melting against him and slipping his tongue into Stark's moist wet mouth. Tony moaned in surprise and pushed Steve's back against the wall quietly, careful not to make any noise and rouse their infant. Tony pulled away slowly and laid his index finger against Steve's lips and slowly moving it to trail down his chin so that he could cup it and bring their lips back together.

"There are some nights where I wish I could ask you to marry me all over again…" It was an impassioned whisper that Tony hadn't meant to let slip out, but now that he had Steve was never going to let it go. He shot him that boyish, lopsided smile that he knew Tony had first fallen in love with and he let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding.

"How do you know I'd still say yes?" He teased, his skin prickling at the feel of Tony's hand caressing the side of his face.

"It's all in your eyes, Steven. You can't pretend that you aren't in love with me…that you don't want this." Tony purred, placing Steve's hand against his own rock hard abs. Steve's breath hitched in the back of his throat and he leaned in close to his husbands face.

"What if I don't?" He whispered bravely, though it certainly didn't put any damper on Tony's spirits. He leaned in and bit Steve's neck roughly.

"Then prove it. Walk away from me right now." Tony knew Steve wouldn't, that he couldn't. He could feel the soldier's boner pressing against him through his jeans. What did surprise him, however, was that Rogers wrapped his enormous arms around Tony's legs and hoisted him up aggressively so that Stark had no choice but to wrap his legs around the soldier's waist. He carried them into their bedroom and the couple made love for only the second time in their month long marriage.


	9. Chapter 9

By the time Peter was six months old Tony and Bruce had bred more spiders than they knew what to do with, they had entire colonies full of radioactive spiders that according to the Decay Rate Algorithm, had been perfectly spliced. However, no matter how many times the spiders venom was run through Tony's systems, nothing could be found on any possible health risks or concerns or even side effects that could have been bred into Peter's DNA. He even tried having the spiders bite lab rats, however the animal didn't seem to be able to handle the venom, all of the rats died within a few days of the bite from infections. None of it made any sense and it was driving Tony mad. Simply put, Tony's new hypothesis was that cross species genetics was scientifically impossible….sure, you can breed the radioactive spiders, that was simple. All you have to do is breed and breed until you have 93 human chromosomes akin to 93 spider chromosomes and bam…crossbred spider. However, the issue was the attempt to distribute the DNA between other animals, the venom would kill anything you inject it in to outside of its own species, the genes and chromosomes just weren't compatible. So why was it, he wondered, that Peter's life had been spared?

"I have an idea!" Steve randomly piped up during dinner that night. Both parents were watching Peter as he slept between them on the couch, they were a little on edge because Peter had his first cold and the poor thing cried any time he ceased feeling the warmth of one of his dads, even while asleep. They had bought cold medicine earlier that day, but unfortunately the little guy kept spitting it out, and both men were at their wits ends worrying, so Steve's breaking of their tense silence caught Tony off guard.

"Huh?" Steve slurped the spaghetti that was in his mouth down his throat and took a sip of his drink before replying.

"I think I know why the cross species genetics thing isn't working." Steve looked awfully proud of himself and Tony's warm, brown eyes softened. He loved it when Steve tried to help out, but he was helpless when it came to math and science.

"What is it, baby?" Steve smiled.

"Well what if it isn't working because the human DNA you had to use to breed the spiders was your own? So maybe the venom is only beneficial to people of your bloodline…" People sharing the same genes…EXACTLY! Tony put his head in his hands, how had he not seen that?

"Pete's sperm donor bred the original spiders….that's it. I might as well tell Bruce to kill off what we have, they'll do more harm than good if anyone is bitten. That's why you're alive buddy…well, that makes me feel a little better." Tony whispered gently, caressing the side of his sleeping baby's face. Maybe if it was Richard's DNA it meant Peter was completely safe from any harm the spiders DNA could cause. Steve snorted, Tony had taken to calling Richard Parker a "sperm donor", because he refused to acknowledge him as Peter's father.

"Be nice." He chided playfully, earning a wink from Tony who looked up from Peter's face only long enough to do so.

"Is Parker here making sure his hand stays next to Pete to make sure he feels secure while he is sick? Is Parker here wiping the runny nose or cradling him when he cries? Is it Parker that Peter cries out for in the middle of the night? No. Biology or no biology, Richard isn't his father." Steve opened his mouth to reply when Tony's cell phone starting ringing. Steve hopped up quickly and ran to the phone, which Tony had left in their bedroom. He didn't want it to wake Peter, who was having such a difficult time staying asleep.

"Hello?" It was Natasha on the other end so Steve decided to close the door. He didn't know what news she might bring from SHIELD but he knew his husband. If Tony overheard anything about Fury he was going to fly off the deep end, Stark didn't handle pain very well and masked it with a rage scary enough to frighten even Loki.

"I've got bad news, Steve. I hope you believe me when I say that Clint and I tried to talk the Director out of this decision, but you know how he is once he makes up his mind. He found a nice foster family willing to take Peter in and he has spoken with the personnel at Social Services. They are coming to take Peter away tomorrow morning. I wasn't supposed to tell you in hopes that without any heads up you'd have no way of appealing the decision, but I wanted you to know. I know how much you and Tony love that kid." Steve's deep blue eyes filled with tears and he stifled the sob that was building inside of his chest, Natasha was the last person he wanted to cry in front of.

"Thank you, Nat, that means a lot to us. Bye." He hung up the phone and dropped it carelessly onto their bed, not wanting to open the door and tell his husband. Tony's heart was going to break. The last few months they had mostly forgotten about the threat…they had been so caught up in other things. Steve very slowly opened the door and walked out, his eyes glued to the floor as he fought the urge to burst into frantic tears. Tony was immediately alarmed as he caught sight of him and stood to wrap his arms around his waist.

"What happened? Cap, c'mon babe, don't look at me like that, you're scaring me." Tony knew that look, he had only seen it once before and that was when Bucky had nearly fought him to the death and disappeared. It was a purely devastated, grief-stricken expression and it was tearing Tony up inside just looking at it. He held Steve's face in his hands and shushed him gently, Steve's arms sneaking around his waist in a death grip.

"N-Natasha called. Social Services is coming to take Peter to a foster home early tomorrow morning." The world seemed to stop spinning and Tony didn't know what to do. He could hardly breathe, heart pounding in his ears as an intense protective and fatherly rage began to boil under his skin. Tony was looking passed Steve, seemingly at nothing and Rogers was more than aware of what that meant. When Tony was severely hurt he always got this blank stare in his eyes, as if he were completely submerged in his own thoughts, searching for answers in himself…. _blaming_ himself. Tony internalized everything, and when Steve laid a hand on Tony's shoulder he was less than surprised when Tony pulled away harshly. Peter began to cry out from lack of contact and Tony's eyes wildly turned to look at him, though he knew if he so much as touched him he would outwardly break. He was itching to sooth the child but he just couldn't, turning on his heel and stalking toward their front door, slamming it behind him hard enough to make the room shake.

"Tony!" Steve called after him, cradling Peter against him tightly and covering him in a warm blanket so he wouldn't get any sicker as they chased Stark outside.

"Tony, wait, please!" It was hard to catch up when there were so many floors in Stark Tower and Steve had been unable to catch the same elevator as Tony. Steve knew what Tony was feeling, but if this was to be their last night with their child he didn't want Tony to miss out and hate himself for the rest of their lives because he never took the opportunity to say goodbye. By the time they made it to the ground floor Tony had already left and Peter was wailing in Steve's arms.

"Don't worry, buddy. Daddy will be back soon, he just needs to cool off. Why don't we go back upstairs and give him a call, how about it?" He cooed, rocking the squirming six month old as he looked around for Tony. Peter started to cough pretty hard and Steve cried quietly to himself as he carried him back to the elevator. Before the super-soldier serum Steve had been so ill, he had had asthma and tons of other ailments, and the very thought of him being helpless while his child faced sickness was unbearable. His husband was gone, his baby was sick, DSS was coming in to rip their family apart…as far as Steve was concerned his life was completely coming apart at the seams. Once back in the penthouse Steve grabbed the cell phone that he hardly ever used and dialed Tony's number, though it went straight to voicemail.

"Anthony, I…I really hope you get this message soon. I know that you don't want to face what you're feeling right now, you're that type of person and that's okay. But Peter and I are your family, Tony…we need you right now. Come on home, please…if not for me then for Peter. He loves you so much, and if there is anyone he is going to want to spend his last day here with, it's you. We love you." He hung up and looked at the clock, it was getting late.

"Come on, Pete. Let's get you in the bath, maybe the warm water will make you feel a little better."

Meanwhile, Tony was driving fast and reckless in the direction of the Department of Social Services. Steve had called Tony's car phone since he left his cell at the tower, but Stark had pressed ignore on the call. He didn't want to talk it out, he wanted to fix it. Once the answering machine was done playing the recording Tony's eyes became blinded by tears. He had to pull off on the side of the road, finally allowing himself to be overcome by his emotions. Tony rested his forehead against the steering wheel and took a few deep breaths, tears rolling down his cheeks and into his facial hair. None of this was fair, he never should have let Steve convince him that taking the baby in in the first place was a good idea. When the phone began to ring again he quickly answered it, ready to blurt out an apology until he realized a moment too late that it was Fury calling.

"What do you want?" He spat, his hands beginning to tremble at the very thought of this man, no doubt sitting all high and mighty behind his desk at SHIELD and gloating about how he 'saved' Peter Parker.

"I know that you received a call from Agent Romanoff, she is being dealt with. I'm no fool either, Tony, I know where you're going. I'm just calling to let you know that if you step one foot inside of DSS I will hand them your and Steve's files so fast you won't know what hit you. Do you know what is in your SHIELD file, Mr. Stark? Enough to make sure you and Rogers both never adopt ANY child in the state of New York. Have I made myself clear?" Tony swallowed hard, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I don't understand why you're doing this, Nick. We're comrades for fuck sakes, we're supposed to be on each other's side!"

"Tony, I _am_ on your side."

"Like hell you are!" Stark barked, a heavy sigh emerging from the other end of the receiver.

"I know it must not look like it right now, but I'm just looking out for that baby. Do you know how hard it was to lose Richard and Mary? They were my BEST agents, and I had to bury them. I won't bury Peter too." Tony rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Fuck you." He hung up and swung his car around to head back to the tower, he didn't know what he was going to do now. Peter and Steve were Tony's whole world, and now…now he was going to go back to having no one. He honestly didn't know if his and Steve's marriage would survive this, neither one of them would be the same.

Back at the tower Steve was very gently rinsing the suds from Peter's hair. Peter was now able to sit up by himself for short intervals at a time, though Steve still cautiously supported his back with one of his hands as he bathed the child. Peter had finally learned that he could giggle, and he laughed and squealed at the bubbles in his water, though it eventually led back to the coughing. Steve sighed and reached for his hooded baby towel that had the face and ears of a lion. Peter looked so adorable all wrapped up in it as Steve carefully lifted him from the bath.

"Sorry to cut play time short, Pete. It's time for some more medicine." He laid the child on the bed to put his diaper and pajamas on, slipping the baby into the night clothes the soldier knew he liked best. They were red and had tiny monkeys on them, though they were now slightly stained because Peter had taken to spitting his medicine out and allowing it to dribble down his chin. Once he was clothed and Steve walked into the kitchen to grab the cough syrup, Tony opened the door and closed it back quietly.

"You're home!" Steve was so relieved, though that ended fast as he noticed that Tony's left hand was dripping blood. Before he could comment Peter did something he had never done before.

"Dada!" He squealed in the most distressed little voice, reaching his tiny arms out toward Tony and repeating the name.

"Dadadadada!" Both Tony and Steve stared at one another in shock for a moment before Tony burst in to tears and took Peter from Steve without a moment's hesitation, holding him tightly against his chest.

"Daddy's here, shhh, I'm so sorry I left you for even one moment." Steve walked to the bathroom and back to get some peroxide, examining Tony's hand carefully.

"What did you do?" The worry in Steve's voice caused Tony to look down at the floor sheepishly.

"Fury called and I got so angry…I might have…slammed my bare fist through the window of our car when I got home." Steve sighed and poured the alcohol on the wounds, though Tony tried his best to not flinch and disturb Peter. Steve wasn't going to chastise him, they had more than enough money to fix the car, he just wished he wouldn't lash out like this and hurt himself. At least he wasn't drinking, though Steve feared that would come soon after Peter's departure in the morning.

"It's time for Peter's medicine." Tony nodded and took a seat on the couch as Steve filled up a small syringe full of grape flavored cough syrup. Tony held Peter's arms while Steve put the needleless syringe in Peter's mouth and filled his tiny cheeks up.

"Swallow, Pete. Come on, you can do it." Peter's tiny face scrunched up in disgust and he whimpered, allowing the liquid to roll out of his mouth as he turned his head from Steve to bury it in to Tony's chest.

"It doesn't taste that bad, surely…" Tony had an idea, leaning Peter back in his arm and taking the syringe from Steve. He squirted the liquid into the child's mouth and held him back, forcing the medicine down his throat and sitting him up quickly so he wouldn't choke. Peter didn't look to happy about that, but Tony smirked smugly at Steve.

"I'm awesome." Steve rolled his eyes and laughed, cuddling into Tony's side and gazing at Peter, who was now reaching for him.

"Pa!" Steve grinned from ear to ear and took him from Tony, kissing both of his chubby little cheeks adoringly.

"Yeah, you don't like Daddy so much now that he made you take your medicine, huh?" He cooed, earning a roll of the eyes from his pouting husband. Tony pulled Steve on top of him and the couple laid down with Peter curled up on Steve's chest. Tony had one hand resting on Peter and the other running his fingers soothingly through Steve's tidy blonde locks.

"We are his father's. It's going to crush him to leave as much as it will crush us to let him go. I don't want him to feel abandoned." Tony said quietly, earning a soft hum in response from Steve.

"I have no intensions of letting him go. We will get him back somehow, if I have to fight until my last breath." Tony didn't reply, he didn't want to worry Steve with what Fury had told him over the phone. All that mattered in that moment was their baby and how much they loved him. If they never let go of that, and held on to him with every ounce of strength in their hearts, then somehow...just maybe, they might survive tomorrow.


	10. Chapter 10

There was a knock on the door early the next morning and neither husband wanted to get up. Peter was still fast asleep in their arms, though his eyes began to flutter open once Steve sat up and stretched. All three were silent, not even the baby made a peep, as if he knew what was about to happen. Tony stared at Steve for a few moments, a lump forming in his throat at the devastation wrought in those ice blue eyes. The knock became louder, more persistent, and a voice that made Steve blanch called through the door. It was a voice belonging to someone he had lost a long time ago.

"Steve, I know you're in there, open up." It was the voice of none other than James Buchanan Barnes. After rescuing Bucky from HYDRA, the Avengers (Tony included although he was insanely jealous at first of Steve's prior relationship with the soldier) had tried relentlessly to trigger his memories, though the attempts had proven fruitless. Bucky was rehabilitated, he was back in control of his mind and his body, but he would never again be the James that Steve had been in love with. That was okay, Steve supposed, because by the time the Winter Solider came around he was already in a growing relationship with Tony, whom he loved with every ounce of his heart. Things were easier this way, and they were rebuilding a friendship, he had even been invited to James's recent wedding to Thor's friend Darcy.

"Is that Buck?" Tony grumbled, irritated that out of all the freaking social workers in the entirety of DSS, they had to assign Bucky Barnes to this case. Steve was already upset, he didn't need this. Bucky had gone back to school for a little while to get a degree and this is what he had chosen to do for a living to support his new wife and unborn baby.

"JARVIS, you were supposed to―"

"I did alert you, Sir. Three times. Neither you nor Master Steven awoke." Steve looked hopefully at Tony and took his hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss.

"Hey, it's Bucky. Maybe we can get him to help us out." Tony was doubtful but he didn't say so for his lover's sake. Tony had meant what he said at Pepper's grave site, he wanted James-Buchanan to be Peter's middle name because he respected the love for James that Steve had held in his heart, he knew what it meant to him. However, Tony couldn't help his own instincts or change his own personality, and there would always be a part of him that got jealous around Barnes. He cradled his baby boy tightly to his chest as he rose to answer the door, bending to press a kiss into the messy tufts of brown curls that he adored.

"I love you, kiddo. Don't ever forget that." Steve followed closely behind, smiling brightly at Bucky, Darcy, and two unfamiliar faces as Stark pulled back the door to their suit. Darcy was dressed in a police uniform, as was the man beside her, and there was a woman with Bucky who appeared to be a fellow social worker. She extended her hand first.

"Good morning, I apologize if we woke you. My name is Nascha Harper and I am the case worker involving your placement of Peter Parker into the foster care system." She was tan, long silky dark hair to her waist…absolutely beautiful. It was within Tony's nature to be charming when met with women of this sort, though his eyes narrowed at her instinctively and he stifled a growl.

"We aren't sending him to a foster home, he's being taken." Tony barked, one of Steve's hands quickly shooting to rub his back as he smiled apologetically to Nascha.

"I'm sorry, we're a little emotional this morning." He locked eyes with Bucky, who appeared to be struggling internally with what he was having to do.

"We understand that, and we apologize. You both already know this, but I am James Barnes, I'm assisting Miss Harper with the duration of this case and behind me is my wife Darcy and her partner, Mr. Beauregard McMullen. They are here to make sure everything goes smoothly. I assume Peter's things are in order?" Steve nodded and dismissed himself to go get the bag he had been forced to pack, leaving a trembling and moody Tony at the door.

"I didn't know you were an officer, Darcy." His attempt at conversation came out steely and cold, but Darcy wasn't the type to notice and she beamed excitedly at him.

"Well, you know me. I like Tasers, thought this was a good fit. Captain Stacy has me on small duty cases like this because of the pregnancy." Tony didn't respond, his heart shattering in his chest as Peter twisted in his arms to play with his father's facial hair, he liked the feel of the stubble against his fingertips.

"Dada!" He babbled with a giggle, not a care in the world on his little face as he played with his daddy, unknowing that it might be for the very last time. Tony bounced him in his arms and nuzzled into his soft, sweet face. He didn't know what he was going to do…he wasn't going to be able to go on knowing he wouldn't get another moment like this. He was lost in this thought when Steve returned and reluctantly handed the bag over to Bucky and took Peter from Tony to give him kisses and say his own goodbyes. The super-solider held him tightly, whispering sweet promises into his tiny ears and wishing him all the love in the whole world. _I'll come back for you, buddy. Papa's coming back for you_. He uttered this very gently and quietly, for Peter's ears only, before being torn from his thoughts by Miss Harper. She reached in slowly and attempted to take Peter from his papa's arms.

"C'mon, little one. Time to meet your new family." She wrapped her hands around Peter, ignoring the instinctive hiss that Tony let out and she tried for several seconds to pry Peter from Steve's arms, though the child was gripping Steve's shirt with all his might. It shouldn't have been that hard, right? The strength of a six month old versus a 23 year old woman, but no matter how much she tugged she couldn't pull him away.

"Peter, open your fists, we don't have time for this." Her tone was motherly, but Steve resented the way she spoke to his son anyway. He stared her down, feeling Tony grip his hand as they watched her struggle. She gave a sharp tug, pushing against Steve's body for leverage and Peter's fists gave way…however, he still did not come off of Steve's chest. His fingers were pressed against the fabric of his father's shirt, but he was stuck there, as if his fingers alone were holding him in place. A smirk began to suddenly cross Tony's face as he realized what was happening.

"Let him go, Steve." Steve caught on to what Tony was implying and pulled his arms out from under Peter, who did not so much as budge. He didn't fall, he didn't even slide, he was just stuck to Steve, whimpering up at him as Miss Harper tried once more to take him away.

"I don't understand what is going on, but this is very unprofessional." She huffed, putting her hands on her hips and glaring at the couple as if they had done something wrong. Tony was unable to help himself.

"What's wrong, honey? Did Nick not tell you what kind of situation he was signing you up for? Or did you really just think SHIELD would be keeping an eye on some run of the mill, unextrodinary child? This child is gifted beyond your wildest imagination, lady, and you're sending him off to a family that will never understand." Steve squeezed Tony's hand and shot him a look.

"Now isn't the time, Anthony." Tony pursed his lips, but said nothing further, running his free hand gently through Peter's hair as if to say that he was proud of him. He had known Peter would be different because of that bite, and now that he was finally seeing how, he was losing him to people he knew would judge him.

"Take your shirt off, Rogers." James asked in the most polite way possible, though a bright simmer seemed to radiate from Tony at the very idea of Bucky looking at Steve without his clothes on.

"Yeah I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you, Barnes?" He spat, the venom in is voice shocking everyone, especially Steve, who had not anticipated this sort of reaction from Tony. As far as Steve knew Tony and Bucky were absolutely cool with one another. James didn't understand, he didn't remember ever being more than a friend to Steve and he blinked stupidly at Tony for a few moments before Steve interjected.

"I'm sorry, Buck. This is just hard, for all of us, you know?" James nodded slowly, his eyes never leaving Tony's as Steve cradled Peter and took his shirt off, tears filling his ocean blue eyes as Miss Harper finally removed Peter from his arms.

"Papa! Pa!" Peter cried desperately, reaching his arms out and letting Steve's shirt fall to the ground. Bucky felt guilty as he turned his gaze to fall on Steve, who you could tell was breaking from the inside out.

"He likes to sleep with the light on…and he is fighting a cold so he will need his medicine every six hours, please tell them that." They were already walking away and taking Peter to the car, but Steve couldn't stop, it was like having a fit of word vomit.

"He can take baby food now but he prefers his bottle, and don't feed him anything green he hates it….he can't sleep at night without his shark, and he―" Tony cut him off, pulling him against his chest tightly and wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Give it up, Steve. They're gone." They watched for a few agonizing moments as the car faded further and further down the road, a broken, empty sound coming from Steve.

"Did you hear him…he was screaming Tony…screaming…" Tony's eyes looked about as lifeless as Steve's, though he wanted to be strong for his husband. He kissed Steve very gently and rubbed his arms, thinking back to the conversation they had had when they had first brought Peter into their home.

"I know, baby. I know. Go get in the car, okay?" Steve sniffled and shook his head, pulling away from Tony and looking at the ground.

"You knocked the window out, Tony." The sound of Steve's voice frightened Stark and he took his hand, attempting a smile and pulling him toward the garage.

"We have plenty more, you know that. Now come on."

Tony and Steve drove along a winding road in absolute silence, no radio no nothing. There wasn't anything in the whole world they could say to one another to make themselves feel better, and Tony knew that driving to a pet store wasn't going to make anything better either. As a matter of fact, Tony didn't want an animal of any sort, he didn't take very kindly to dingy dirty flea magnets that would inevitably shit all over his 1,000 dollar carpets, but he knew Steve. Steve was going to need something to cuddle and take care of until they could get Peter back and Tony had promised him a dog. When they pulled up to the Petco near Central Park Steve shook his head, memories flooding his brain of the first night they had their son. _If you want something to cuddle I will buy you a dog…_ that's what he had said.

"You aren't serious…" Tony just smiled and hopped out of the car, telling Steve he would be right back. Tony ran in and out a few times, loading the trunk up with dog food and toys and a bowl, finally getting in the car after walking out with something blonde and fluffy.

"As promised, something to cuddle whose name starts with P. I present to you Princess Peach, or Peach for short." Tony stated proudly, holding up a golden retriever puppy with a pink collar. Tony sat the dog in Steve's lap and started the engine, though Steve's mood didn't seem to lighten.

"Come on, Steven. It's a puppy…I thought it would make you at least smile a little, babe." Steve sighed, his eyes looking a little betrayed even though he knew Tony was just trying to keep him happy.

"We just lost our baby and you replaced him with a dog." Tony's smile fell and turned away from Steve, hurt. That wasn't what Tony had meant…not at all. Stark just didn't like it when people he loved were hurting, especially not when he lived for Steve's smile.

"Nothing can replace Peter, Steve. I just…" He just couldn't imagine life without something to distract him from his pain. Peter had taken so much sorrow away from Tony, and now that he was gone there was a gaping hole in his heart. His options were literally train a puppy or drink until the pain is numbed. Which would Steve prefer?

"…whatever." Tony pulled out of the parking lot and drove home, depression settling in for the umpteenth time in his life as he came home to an empty penthouse.

"Keep the damn dog in the living room, I'm going to bed." Tony quipped, giving the keys to Steve and slamming their car door. Steve was more than aware of what 'going to bed' meant and he immediately felt guilty.

"Tony, I'm sorry…I didn't mean―" It was too late, Tony was hurt and unresponsive and he walked away from Steve without so much as a second glance. By the time Rogers had got Peach and all of her things up to the penthouse Tony had already locked himself in their bedroom. He was curled up in their bed, a bottle of Kraken in one hand and Peter's blanket in the other. Steve must have forgotten to pack it, it had been tangled in their bedding from where he had slept with them, but Tony was glad. He held the tiny cloth against is chest and cried quietly into his pillow, lifting his head only to pour more Rum down his throat. Steve knocked a few times, but he knew Tony wasn't going to answer him for a while, so he curled up on the couch and took a deep breath. The puppy happily nipped and licked at Steve's hand, begging to play, though he pushed her away.

"Not now, Peach." He curled up, tears streaming down his face as he caught a whiff of the alcohol coming from their bedroom. Steve couldn't live like this, he didn't know what to do. Tony wasn't going to survive this…and as far as he could tell, maybe he wasn't going to either. The only thing he knew to do was talk to the police about Fury's blackmail, but that was a call to Captain Stacy that was going to have to wait until morning.


	11. Chapter 11

Steve could feel the hot of Tony's breath against his chest as he allowed the smaller man to take him, the thick smell of whiskey filling Steve's nostrils. Tony always smelled faintly of alcohol, but this was overwhelming as Stark had been 100% drunk for going on a week now. One week without their son and their marriage was already in shambles, Tony had had violent fits just about every night, which were not directed at Steve but normally resulted in something in the house 'mysteriously' breaking. They were no longer sharing a bed, Tony had taken to sleeping in the lab…and Steve never had anyone but Princess Peach for company anymore. The soldier had hoped having sex would help, he knew Tony was a very sexual man and that it was an outlet for him, but now he was almost regretting the decision. It didn't feel like love making…it was just…fucking.

"Mmm, Pepper!" Tony called out roughly as he rocked into Steve, whose crystal blue eyes immediately filled with tears. He knew his husband was in a dark place and that the alcohol had him very confused the majority of the time, but the words still cut like a knife and he pushed Tony off of him hard. Stark fought to sit up, squinting at the man that was now stalking toward their bedroom door.

"What's wrong, Pep?" He slurred, a half concerned expression crossing his face, which only further twisted the knife in Rogers' heart. It hurt a thousand times more to know that Tony genuinely believed Pepper was still there, that she was alive and well and that they were still in love than it would have if Tony had just been saying these things to break his heart.

"Screw off you drunk bastard." Steve grumbled, slamming the door behind him and bursting into tears. What had he been thinking when he married this man? What was attractive to him about an arrogant volatile socialite that had more baggage than a grocery store? These thoughts plagued him as he stood there, silently sobbing and gripping the door handle in an attempt at keeping Tony from following him. He saw a picture of Tony with Pepper hanging on one of their walls out of the corner of his eye and he slammed his fist in to it hard, the glass shattering as the broken frame clattered to the floor with a thud. He took a deep breath, eyes staring at the picture of the once happy couple. Now he understood for the first time why Tony had acted so jealous of Bucky the day he had come to take Peter. This feeling of being second best was…was _torture_. His gaze moved toward the picture that had been hanging beside it, it was of their wedding night. Tony was in a form fitting black tux and Steve was in a white one…they were dancing, Steve's head resting gently against Tony.

"What happened to us, Anthony?" He whispered to himself, shaking his head at the fond memory. They had been so in love, and it didn't matter that Tony was everything that Steve wasn't and vice versa. It didn't matter that they were both riddled with PTSD and had extremely different ideals and morals when it came to keeping the world safe. All that had mattered in that moment was that Tony Stark had taken Steve's heart that day that Loki had destroyed the city…that day when they had stopped bickering about how to save their home and just did it…the day Tony had saved their lives and almost lost his own doing it, only to brush it off like it was nothing and playfully ask if anyone had kissed him. That was the Tony Steve fell in love with, and he knew that deep down that man was still in there somewhere, he was just drowning. This seemed to strengthen a resolve in the soldier, who turned on his heels to open the door once more.

"Tony." Stark was still sitting on the bed, staring blankly into space and Steve lost his temper at the sight of him. Rogers barreled toward him and pinned him down on the bed harder than he'd ever touched his husband before. Steve hovered over Tony, his face inches from his counterparts, who was struggling to get free underneath him.

"Let me go!" Steve's grip on Tony's wrists tightened and he stared into Tony's brown eyes hard, not bothering to feel pity for the pain and suffering he saw etched into them. He was beyond feeling sorry for either one of them, this had to stop.

"I'm not giving up on you, Tony. You can push me away, you can drink until you're half dead every night, and you can even pretend I'm your dead girlfriend if that's what will make you feel better Anthony but damn you, you can't make me leave. I'm not going anywhere, no matter how much you self-destruct, do you understand me? I am your husband, I took a vow for better or for worse." Steve had never raised his voice at Tony like this, not since they had been married and the shorter partner flinched, a spark of recognition filling those deep eyes, which was more than had been there since the moment Peter had left.

"S-Stevie?" He choked out, Steve's eyes softening as he recognized his Tony coming back, even if it was only a little bit. Steve caressed the side of his face and let go of his now bruised wrists, pulling Stark against his chest as he came apart in his arms.

"Where is Peter, Steve? Where is our little boy?" He cried as he gripped the fabric of Steve's shirt enough to rip it. Steve nuzzled his face in to Tony's hair, shushing him gently and swaying ever so slightly in a soothing motion. Tony was never, ever emotional like this unless he was inebriated, but Steve felt like this was a good thing. It was healthy for some of this to finally come out.

"He's okay, he's safe. I promise you that much, our son is safe. Now I want you to go to sleep and sober up, okay? We can talk when you wake up." Tony didn't want to be asleep, but his eyes were growing heavy anyway and he allowed his husband to softly push him under the duvet of their comforter. The super soldier wrapped his bulking arms around the other man and held him there until he felt his breathing change, an indication that he had finally drifted off. Steve knew there was no sense in trying to talk to Tony while he was like this, they weren't truly going to fix this until he was on detox. After he was completely certain Tony was asleep, Steve carefully removed himself from their embrace and threw out every bottle of alcohol he could find in the penthouse.

Meanwhile, Captain Stacy was working on a report against Director Fury, trying to get Peter's placement in to foster care appealed. As captain of the police force, something like this was way below his pay grade, this wasn't his job. However, because Captain America had contacted him personally and he felt guilty about their previous interaction, he had decided to help out. His infant daughter, Gwen was sitting happily in his lap on his day off while he was pouring over the necessary paper work. Mrs. Stacy was in the kitchen cooking Branzino, filling their large house with wonderful smells. Captain Stacy smiled as his stomach growled, he loved his wife and daughter more than anything, and these quiet days he had off to spend with them made him immensely happy. He supposed this was another reason he wanted to help the Starks, he didn't feel like is was right to take this kind of life from people who didn't deserve it. He was thinking about this when his cell rang.

"Hello?" It was none other James Buchanan Barnes on the other end, who had felt so guilty after the Peter incident that he had gotten in touch with the captain regarding the legal ramifications of undoing what DSS has put into place. He was laying on his bed watching Darcy sleep, who was cuddled around his metal arm and had her fingers woven into his short, messy hair (he had cut it after being rescued from HYDRA).

"Captain Stacy, what is the word on Parker's adoption file?" Stacy sighed and glanced over the documents once more, shrugging his shoulders though he knew Bucky couldn't see him.

"He was placed into the care of a man named Max Dillon, who apparently has some sort of relation to Nick Fury, I believe I read that they were cousins. I am assuming this foster family was chosen so SHIELD could keep their eyes on the poor kid, though I am not certain of why. I think it has something to do with Richard and Mary's death, Cap said something to me not too long ago that gave me that impression. I think it would be in the child's best interest to remove him from that home, but what I need you to do for me is convince DSS of that without bringing up SHIELD. The less people know about what goes on in that division the better." Bucky gently pulled away from his wife and walked to his computer to rummage through the foster care system for a few moments.

"Let's see…here we are, Maxwell Dillon. According to our records he has an older foster daughter already named Anna Marie D'Ancanto. Born in Mississippi, she ran away from home after discovering her previously latent mutant abilities and was taken in by Professor Xavier in Westchester New York, which is about eight hours out from the city. How she ended up in Dillon's care…well…that seems to be a dirty SHIELD secret too." Captain Stacy clicked his tongue for a few moments a shook his head.

"Looks like we have a foster home to visit, Barnes. Get your things ready, we might just be able to cry foul play if we play our cards right. Something isn't adding up."

Back at Stark Tower Tony was waking up. It had been a few hours and Steve was playing with Peach in the living room. He had ordered pizza from the Famous Original Rays Pizza on Ninth Avenue and left it on the counter especially for Tony, knowing he would be starving. Steve didn't exactly love his husband's eating habits and love of all that is greasy, but he figured he would tackle one issue at a time. Tony had a killer hang over and his vision went in and out as he sat up in their bed, he felt as if he might vomit but this wasn't his first rodeo by any means and he figured he could keep it down.

"S-Steve…ugh…do we have any Excedrin?" He called out weakly, earning a loving sigh from his partner. Steve was happy he was awake, hopefully his mind was clear now. He grabbed some extra strength pills and the pizza box, taking them in to the bed room and curling up on the other side of Tony. The smile that crossed Tony's face was tender, though his playful eyes suggested Steve was about to get teased.

"I don't eat pizza from Ray's…not since Obadiah stabbed me in the back." Steve fought a laugh and started to get up, pizza in hand when Tony held his hands up quickly and shook his head.

"No, no…it was just a heads up for next time, give me that." Steve handed Tony the box and shook two pills from the Excedrin bottle out for him to take.

"I'll go get you something to drink." Steve was about to slide off of the bed when Tony grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back, capturing his lips softly. Steve melted into the kiss, having missed moments like this. For a moment it almost felt like everything was back to normal.

"I'm sorry I've been such a dick…you know that I love you, don't you?" Tony asked softly when they pulled away. Steve didn't reply, only stared into his husband's eyes as Stark ran his fingers through Rogers' tidy blonde locks.

"I don't mean to do anything that would cause you to leave me…I would never purposefully do something to lose you." Steve could tell that Tony was being sincere and it was clear that Tony recalled their last conversation, otherwise he wouldn't have felt the need rebuff Steve's quip about pushing him away.

"I know, Tony, I know. It's not all your fault, you know. I was too hard on you when we lost…well, you know. You were trying to make sure I'd be alright, and I threw it back in your face, so, I'm sorry." Tony looked down at Steve's hand, gingerly reaching out to rub his thumb against his wedding band.

"I hate that we fight, baby. It wasn't ever supposed to be like this." Steve snorted and leaned against Tony, taking his hand within his own and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Everyone fights, we fought before we were married and we were crazy to think we wouldn't fight after. It doesn't matter, though. It's not the fights that count for anything, it's all the reasons we have to make up." Tony couldn't help but chuckle and his eyes regained a little of their usual shine.

"Do you want to try it again? I'll be on bottom if you want." Steve was genuinely surprised at the offer, Tony had never once bottomed in their entire relationship. _Jeez, Tony, you really are sorry aren't you?_ Steve thought to himself while considering the offer.

"Well, if you promise not to call me the wrong name again…" Tony held his hand against his heart.

"Cross my heart. I was drunk, Steven, I really didn't mean to do that. My feelings for you don't compete with what I had for Pepper, that I can honestly promise you." This made Steve happy, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips as he rested his forehead against Tony's.

"I hope you know I feel the same way about Bucky. You have no need to be jealous of him, not at all. What we had is gone." Tony was about to sigh in a happy relief when his phone began to ring. He wasn't going to answer it, not wanting to ruin the moment, until he realized who it was that was calling.

"Captain Stacy?"

"You might wanna do a little homework on your pal Fury over at SHIELD, I have quite some news for you."


	12. Chapter 12

"S-Steve, fuck! Gentle, baby, I'm not used to this." Tony half moaned half whined, a little uncomfortable as he fulfilled his promise to bottom for Steve. His hands were woven tightly into the blonde hair he adored and Steve had his enormous arms holding him against his chest tightly, possessively. Tony could hardly move. They were sitting in an upright position, Tony facing Steve, their bodies plastered together with Stark's legs around Steve's waist, who was sitting Indian Style. Rogers' cock was buried inside of Tony deeply, holding him down on it as he whispered sweet nothings into his hear. The sex was half make up sex and half celebratory. After receiving the call from Captain Stacy, Tony had dug up as much dirt on Maxwell Dillon as possible and faxed it over to Bucky, who had just called to say he would be taking them to see their son in approximately two hours.

"I love you." Steve whispered gently into Tony's neck, tracing patters on the soft skin of his lovers back as he panted with need.

"Steven, shut up and move…my butt hurts." Tony growled impatiently, earning a loud laugh from his husband. Steve changed positions, pushing Tony onto his back so he would be more comfortable and rocking slowly in and out of his tight hole. Tony had never felt anything like this before, heat crawling up his body as less pain and more pleasure began to shoot through him.

"T-This is…mmm…weird!" Steve captured Tony's lips roughly and reached between them to take hold of his already straining cock, causing Stark to cry out into his mouth loudly.

"Really? Because it doesn't look that weird from here." Steve purred, grinning at the fact that he was able to do this to Tony Stark of all people. Steve had only had sex a handful of times, and every single time had been with this beautiful man beneath him. He was happy that even though he couldn't be Tony's first the way he had been his, he could at least be the one to take Stark's anal virginity. Tony buried his face into Steve's neck, nipping and kissing heatedly as he felt his husband continue to pump him.

"Harder, baby…ugh!" Steve happily obliged, thrusting hard and fast into Tony, his crystal blue eyes rolling into the back of his head as his husband ground his ass into his cock with an agonizing desperation. Steve could feel his climax beginning to swirl in his groin, but unfortunately the phone began to ring.

"That goddamn phone, I swear! Don't you answer that." Steve ignored Tony, continuing to pound his cock inside of him like lightening as he hit the talk button and pretended he wasn't totally fucking someone's brains out.

"I told you not to step foot inside of DSS. I warned you, both of you." It was Fury, the absolute last person either Avenger wanted to be speaking to, especially while they were making love.

"We didn't. They came to us." There was a pause on the other end, as if he were listening carefully to the background noises and Steve almost wanted laugh.

"Why are you out of breath?" Steve shrugged, though he knew Fury couldn't see him.

"Jogging."

"Right, well you can jog your perky little ass down to Social Services and call off the investigation on my cousin or I swear to god I will leak everything SHIELD has on your precious little husband. I don't wanna do it, Steve, I love you and Tony both like sons but y'all mother fuckers have pushed me into a corner here." Tony was trying to swallow his screams but he just couldn't help himself, he was about to come undone.

"Ohhh babe, you feel so good!" There was another abrupt pause, Steve winking at Tony and threading their fingers together. Tony was gazing up at Steve from under his eyelashes, wanting to hold eye contact as they came together, he wanted it to be intimate.

"Are y'all…no! Oh fuck no, you nasty sons of bitches!" Fury hung up in a sort of rage, though Steve was largely unfazed by the call. So what if Fury did turn in Tony's SHIELD file? They had friends inside the system now, and children ended up with Daddy's with far worse wrap sheets than Tony every day. Tony was a good man. Steve laughed as he allowed his body to curl into his husband as he made his final thrusts, Tony's fingers threading through his hair in adoration.

"I love you." He finally said back as Steve blew his enormous load within him. Tony's body couldn't take it, the feeling of Steve's hot cum deep inside his ass eliciting the orgasm of Stark's life, and that was saying a whole lot. His jizz coated Steve's chest all over, a chuckle rising from Rogers' throat as he cuddled with his partner, neither bothering to move or clean themselves up.

"So I take it you enjoyed that?" Tony winked in response and kissed Steve sweetly on the lips, his eyes soft and full of joy for the first time in what felt like forever. It made Steve happier than anyone would ever know, to have the old Tony back. The Tony he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

"Wanna take a shower, honey? Then we can go get Pete and everything will be as it should again." Tony asked gently as he kissed down Steve's neck, his muscular hands massaging the super-soldier's back lovingly. Steve smiled, Tony called him baby all the time, but he had only called him honey on a few occasions. Steve almost didn't want to ruin it by getting up, running his fingers through Tony's tousled black hair.

"I would love that. I hope we can take him home. He needs to be home, with his daddy and his papa. He belongs here." Tony reached for Steve's hand and kissed each of his fingertips in adoration.

"I'm not leaving the foster home without him. I left my child behind once, I'll be damned if I ever do it again. Now get off of me, Capsicle, you're a little sticky." He teased, earning a roll of the eyes from his husband who slid off of him and walked toward their master bathroom. Tony was readily on his heels, slamming the bathroom door behind them and jerking the handle in the shower to maximum heat. Steve could hardly blink before Tony pushed him aggressively into the shower and pulled the curtain back, his lips on his own savagely. Their tongues collided and danced wildly, their skin scorched by more than water as the shorter man poured his passion into the soldier.

"How are you not dead tired?" Steve panted when they pulled away, gently washing some cum off of Tony's chest with his hand. Tony wrapped his arms around Steve's neck and pulled their bodies close, holding him there and staring into his eyes, illuminated by the glow of the arc reactor as it was the only light in the darkened bathroom.

"I'm Tony Stark." He exclaimed arrogantly, a twisted smirk marring Steve's normally boyish face. He pulled him in for one more kiss before pushing him underneath the water of the shower head hard.

"Yeah, well I'm the iron in your man." Tony couldn't tell if he wanted to laugh that Steve was really bad at talking dirty (because let's face it he always had been) or moan as Steve nibbled on his ear.

"How much time do we have before we get Peter?" He asked quickly, a happy smile lighting up Rogers' bright blue eyes.

"About an hour now I think." Tony smirked. That was plenty of time.

Meanwhile, Captain Stacy and James Barnes were already at the Dillon residence and had been investigating for some time. Barnes was having a conversation with Anna Marie in her bedroom while Stacy handled Dillon. Anna Marie was a beautiful young girl, brunette hair down to her waist that had one silvery streak in the front and the most vibrant green eyes you would ever see. She wore gloves up to her elbows and she appeared nervous, scared even.

"Anna, you're going to have to open up to me before I can help you and your foster brother, do you understand? Is Anna okay or do you go by Anna Marie?" She shrugged.

"Just call me Rouge." Bucky sighed and ran his fingers through his messy brown hair.

"Okay…Rouge, can you tell me how you ended up staying with Mr. Dillon after spending some time at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters? Did you get kicked out of school or?" She shook her head quickly, looking around as if to make sure no one else was possibly listening.

"Listen, Mister, I'm sure you're here to help…but something really strange is going on and I'm not so sure you would believe me." Bucky put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I've seen a lot of things, Miss. I wasn't always a Social Worker, and I've been caught up in SHIELD's messes before. You won't tell me anything that will shock me, I promise." Rouge seemed to think about it for a moment, as if pondering whether or not she could trust him.

"The school isn't just a place for the gifted in the sense of academic ability. Professor Xavier takes in mutants…like me. That's why I left home in the first place. I joined the X-Men, a group of mutants from the school that work hard to keep the public safe from those of our kind that haven't taken too kindly to the backlash we've received from your society…especially mutants like Magneto. Well, a few odd months ago the professor was approached by Nick Fury, I think he said he was some sort of colonel. He told him that the Avengers had recruited two young Sokovians named Pietro and Wanda Maximoff, mutants that just so happen to be the children of Magneto himself, although SHIELD is the only one that knows that dirty little secret. The Maximoff twins don't even know it. Fury proposed that it would stay a well-kept secret from both the twins and Magneto under the condition that a select few of us come and live in temporary homes for a little while. None of us know why, but the Professor had no choice but to accept, because if the twin's powers were reunited with their father it would be devastating. Professor Xavier promised he'd figure it out and be back for us soon." Bucky was incredibly disturbed by this information and grabbed his legal pad and a pencil.

"Can you give me a list of the other mutants taken into the foster care system? This goes way beyond SHIELD's authority, something isn't right. I suspect HYDRA is involved, and I promise you ma'am, anything to do with HYDRA I won't stand for." Rouge smiled at him, genuinely happy that she might be reunited with her friends soon. She didn't know what it was about James, but there was something in his eyes that made her believe in him.

Captain Stacy was about done talking to Max, whom he had no idea how he had come to be a foster parent. This man was nuttier than a squirrel, he did the electrical work for Oscorp and seemed to be pretty smart…but Stacy could tell he was missing a few marbles. It would seem that Dillon was more than happy to take in a child who had been raised by Captain America, who according to Max had saved his life once and was 'his best friend'. Captain America memorabilia was strewn about the house, and there was a small shrine dedicated to Steve in a corner of the living room.

"Maxwell, let me ask you something. How often to do see this best friend of yours, Steve Rogers?" Max's eyes lit up at the mere mention of Captain America and he looked around in excitement for a few moments.

"We only met once, in 2012. He saved me from one of those floating worm things…I forget what they are called. He told me I was his eyes and ears, that he needed me to be strong and help evacuate my building…he's my best bud. I'm sure he's real proud of me, otherwise he wouldn't have sent me his boy." Captain Stacy sat back in exasperation, clearly trying to wrap his mind around everything he was hearing and seeing. Good thing he had DSS listening through a bug, otherwise he knew no one would believe any of this.

"Right…can I um, do you mind if I take a look at Peter's room?"

Back at Stark Tower Tony and Steve had gotten out of the shower and were dressed and ready to go. Both were nervous, they had no idea what type of environment their child had been living in for the past week and they hoped with all their hearts that he had gone to a good, safe family. Even though a good family would be harder to get Peter back from, neither wanted their little boy to have been suffering all this time. Steve had packed what they still had of Peter's things into a small bag and he squeezed Tony's hand hard as they headed toward their door. Tony leaned in for a gentle kiss and squeezed back reassuringly. He was about to promise his husband that everything was going to be okay when JARVIS piped up suddenly.

"I have buzzed a young woman upstairs, Sirs. She said she was sent by the Captain of the police force." Tony and Steve exchanged alarmed glances, coming to open the door as they heard a soft knocking. A blonde woman stood before them, tall and beautiful, holding a baby girl that appeared to be the same age as Peter.

"Hello, I don't mean to impose, Mr. and Mr. Stark, my name is Helen Stacy. My husband is George Stacy, he works with the NYPD." Tony nodded and extended his hand immediately, shaking the one that was not holding the baby. She smiled sweetly at them both and continued.

"I know you are both on your way to go get your son, so I hate to ask this of you but George said you owed him a favor." Tony had a snarky come back to that but he never got to use it, Steve interjecting well before Stark could open his mouth.

"We owe him more than we can ever repay, what can we do you for, ma'am?" He said politely, a barely concealed roll of the eyes coming from Tony. She smiled again.

"George is going to be working well into the night and I just had a family member hospitalized that really needs me to be there for them, and we have no one to watch Gwen. My husband says that he knows you're safe people, I mean duh, you're Avengers, right? He also knows that you're good with kids and that you love your boy more than anything…he trusts you. Would you mind keeping her? Just for this week? We're both going to have our hands full until at least Monday." Tony wanted to say no, Steve could tell by the look on his face but that little girl was so cute…all chubby cheeks and big green eyes. It was like seeing Peter for the first time all over again, he fell in love.

"Of course we will, Mrs. Stacy. We'd love to watch Gwen." Helen honestly looked so relieved that Tony decided not to gripe, taking the bag she had packed from her and hoisting it onto his shoulder. She kissed Gwen on the forehead and handed her to Steve.

"Thank you so much for this. She's a good baby, I promise. She just likes to sleep with the light on, is all." Steve smiled brightly.

"That won't be a problem, so does Pete." They walked Mrs. Stacy to her car and retrieved Gwen's car seat, Tony installing it quickly while Steve took Gwen's little hand and made her wave to her mommy as she drove in the direction of the hospital.

"Isn't she adorable?" Steve cooed as Tony finally got the seat fixed and turned to look at him. Steve's face was full of so much happiness that Tony didn't have the heart to tear him down, simply wrapping an arm around him and kissing the side of his face.

"You really love babies don't you, Spangles?"

By the time they made it to Max's house, trouble was brewing inside. Not only had Peter's room proven to be unkempt and dirty, but when Dillon had attempted to hold the child, Peter decided to take matters into his own hands. Steve held Gwen protectively against his chest as they walked inside, fearing slightly for her safety as they heard screaming.

"Get him off of the ceiling, Maxwell!"

"I can't! He doesn't like me half of the time, the only person he can get him down once he's up there is Anna Marie!" Rogue and Bucky rushed into the living room right as Steve and Tony entered from the front door, their mouths dropping at the sight before them. Peter had no doubt used his spider powers to climb up the wall and onto the ceiling, Tony's lips twitching into a smirk as he witnessed the ordeal.

"Peter!" He said firmly, hushing Captain Stacy and Max both as the small child turned his head in the direction of his father's voice.

"Dada!" Peter squeaked loudly, reaching toward him with both of his hands. Steve nearly fainted as he did so, fearing for his baby's life as he hung from the ceiling with just his feet, screaming for his daddy.

"Tony do something!" Tony walked underneath where Peter was hanging and reached his arms up to where they would securely wrap around Peter once he let go.

"C'mon, buddy. Come to Daddy, you can do it. I've missed you." Peter grinned and didn't hesitate to drop off of the ceiling and into Tony's arms, though Steve and Captain Stacy paled about three shades as the child fell. Tony held Peter against him tightly and peppered his face with kisses as the boy curled into him, his tiny fists gripping his t-shirt for dear life.

"Almost gave your Papa a heart attack." He laughed into Peter's hair, cradling him protectively as Max stepped forward as if he wanted to hold him. Steve let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding.

"You can say that again." Max turned his gaze from Peter to Steve and quickly walked to give the super soldier a big hug. Steve froze, glancing at Captain Stacy in discomfort. Stacy gestured around the room, pointing out the creepy obsession of the man who lived there.

"You came to visit! I knew you would, I told Mr. Stacy you were my best friend! I don't think he believed me." Bucky decided to pipe up from behind them all, because though his memory wasn't back he had still grown fond of Steve.

"Actually, that would be me." Max looked confused, glancing from Bucky to Steve and then back again.

"But you…you said I was your eyes and ears. Don't you remember me?" Steve had saved so many lives the day he helped stop Loki's invasion, there was no way he could have remembered all of them, especially not when it had happened four years ago.

"Um…I…" Steve didn't know what to say, watching as the color drained from Max's face and the shine behind his eyes dulled. He felt guilty, but he didn't know how to mend the situation, backing up further to ensure Gwen was still out of harm's way. Captain Stacy's eyes fell upon his daughter and he checked his phone for any word from DSS.

"Okay, I would like to thank you for taking in Gwendolyn for a little while, that was kind of you. I have just received the okay from social services to remove Peter Parker from this household based upon evidence gathered on this day, and you may see Mr. Barnes during his office hours to begin the adoption process anytime this week. Get your sons things and go." Tears filled Tony's eyes and he cracked a smile at Stacy, which was unusual behavior for him in public.

"Thank you." Stacy smiled back and nodded, holding Dillon back as he struggled to follow after Peter. Rouge, who by word of DSS was officially no longer required to stay in that home either decided to stay with Bucky, who was going to investigate her particular case further on his own. Tony and Steve ran out to their car quickly, strapping both babies into their car seats and driving as far away from that house as possible.

"We did it…we really got him back." Steve whispered half to himself and half to Tony, who used the hand he wasn't driving with to weave his fingers between Steve's.

"We didn't just get him back, we get to keep him." His smile was wide, and bright and it filled Steve with so many emotions that he had to struggle not to cry. Neither Avenger knew what was going to happen with Fury or what the future was going to hold for them and their son, but for right now it didn't matter. All that mattered was that Peter finally _was_ theirs, and no one was going to be able to change it now. Peter Benjamin Parker was about to become Peter James-Buchanan Stark, and it would be the name he would have for the rest of his life.


	13. Chapter 13

When the couple got home that evening they were exhausted, although there was far too much celebrating to do with their son home to keep and a temporary addition to their family to show around. Princess Peach barked happily and wagged her tail as she heard Tony and Steve unlock the penthouse door, staring curiously at the squirming specimens her humans had brought home with them. Steve smiled very gently and knelt down to the dog's height, holding Gwen very tightly and protectively as he did so.

"Stay calm, Peach, okay? If you get too excited I'll have to keep you in a separate room." Steve warned in a stern voice, sitting Gwen on the floor and watching carefully as Tony came along and sat Peter down beside her.

"Pete, Gwendy, this is Peach…play nice." Tony added, watching intently as the golden retriever puppy approached the children slowly, timidly. Peach sniffed the air around Gwen first, leaning in to lick her cheek gently before turning her attention to Peter, who was tenderly pulling on her fur. She pawed at him, but not hard, sitting surprisingly still for such a young pup and allowing the child to pat and feel her. Peach barked happily, seeming to approve of the babies, who were cooing and being more attentive than Tony and Steve had probably been the entire time they had owned the dog.

"Puh!" Gwen squealed happily as Princess Peach played with the pink bow in her hair, no doubt her version of the word 'puppy' though it was hard to tell with the way that babies babbled. Steve chuckled, reaching to pick up his retriever as she was getting a little wild.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight. Go play someplace else while we show Gwen around." He carried the dog into the spare bedroom where all her toys and bedding and things were and shut the door. Tony looked at the clock and sighed, going to get the menus and sitting on the couch, watching his son and company play out of the corner of his eye. Peter was not used to being around other babies, but he appeared to like Gwendolyn as he grinned toothlessly at her and leaned his head on her shoulder. Trouble with that was, babies' heads are heavier than the rest of their bodies and the duo soon went toppling over. Steve smiled from ear to ear as he walked back into the room, the sound of the six month olds giggling ringing like music in his ears. He could get used to this, he might have to offer to babysit for the Stacy's more often.

"What sounds good for dinner, hmm?" He half asked Tony half asked the children as he sat down Indian style on the floor and helped them each to sit back up. Stark felt a little left out on the couch, moving to plop down with them are their carpet, menus and baby food in hand. Tony laid out a few for Steve to choose from and then listed out some flavors for the kids.

"Banana, sweet potato, or a bottle?" He asked gently, sitting the three options before both babies. Steve almost wanted to laugh, Tony Stark was the only person he knew that would ask an infant what it wanted for dinner as if it were an adult. Tony's face was serious, however, patiently waiting for the kids to make up their minds.

"C'mon you two, it isn't rocket science. Pick one." Okay, maybe he wasn't waiting so patiently. Peter reached out for the sweet potato jar of baby food and looked at it for a moment or two before throwing it at Steve, his tiny face scrunched up the way it had been when he had been sick and refused to take his medicine.

"Peter, we don't throw." Steve chastised softly, though Tony threw his head back in laughter.

"He's like his daddy, no one likes sweet potatoes." Steve shot Tony a look, though it dissolved into a cute little pout as he rolled the baby food jar around in his hand, which he had picked out.

"I do." Tony snorted and shook his head at his husband, winking and taking the jar from him which he tossed effortlessly into the trash can that was sitting practically on the other end of the living room.

"Stop making that face, Stevie. I might have to kiss it away." The soldier's lips immediately curled into a smirk that rivaled Starks own.

"How horrible." He teased, a playful and romantic electricity seeming to flow through them. Tony leaned in for a quick, chaste kiss and handed the bottle to Peter, who was reaching for it and the banana baby food to Steve while he got up to get a spoon for Gwen. A twitch of a smirk was forming at the corner of his lips as he dug through the baby spoons for a pink one, wondering to himself how he'd let the life of Iron Man get so domestic.

"I could get used to this you know." He sighed contentedly, earning a snort from his husband as he grabbed the spoon out of Tony's hands and opened the container of food.

"Well I sure hope so…you're gonna be a daddy 24/7 now. While you're up get me a bib would you? I'd hate to mess up such a pretty outfit." He half asked Tony half cooed at Gwen as his eyes lovingly fell on her adorable pink tutu and onesee. He couldn't wait to have a sister for Peter one day, dressing a little girl looked like so much fun. Tony did as Steve asked, his heart heavy with a love he hadn't known he was living without before. Knowing that he would be a father in just a few weeks, an actual father…it scared the fuck out of him, but now that he knew what it felt like he wouldn't trade it for all the world. He scooped Peter into his arms and regained his place on the floor beside Steve, reveling in the feeling of his child finally curling up in his arms again as he had missed so so much. Peter nuzzled into Tony's chest as he guzzled his bottle, his hazel eyes curiously looking on his Papa, who had Gwen in his lap.

"Open up, sweetie." Gwen's little mouth opened happily, Steve spooning some of the yellow goop onto the tiny spoon for her to eat. It dribbled down her chin in the cutest way, Steve using the bib to very tenderly wipe her clean. It almost made him wish he wasn't an Avenger…what he wouldn't give to just dedicate all of his time to raising children. Steve had accomplished his original dream, to be a soldier…now he felt like it was maybe time for him to settle down, though he was unsure of how possible that might be. He looked over at his hero, who was gazing at the take out menus in the basket on the floor.

"I can't cook...I've never needed to know how, but you on the other hand…" Tony started the sentence but decided he couldn't finish it, not knowing how to ask. He shrugged and made a face at Steve, who he hoped could read his expression…he was annoyingly good at that. Steve smiled.

"You want me to cook for us? That's new…I know how much you love your take out." Steve was teasing, he knew that tonight was a special night for all of them though he found it slightly surprising that it had Tony in a sentimental enough mood to ask him to cook a family meal. Tony Stark was never sentimental. Ever.

"Whatever, Spangles." Tony brushed off with a roll of his eyes. That was one reaction that sure wasn't shocking, a grin creeping onto the super soldiers face.

"Oh don't pout, Anthony, I would love to cook. You'll get to taste my infamous macaroni!" Steve was suddenly very excited, finishing feeding Gwen and sitting her on the play pad in the living room floor where she and Peter could play with toys while he could see them from the kitchen. He took Peter from Tony once the bottle was empty and sat him with his new friend, forcing his amused husband to the stove with him.

"Grab a pot, I've got the stove at the right temperature." Rogers instructed as he grabbed the box of noodles from a cabinet and some milk and cheese from their refrigerator. Tony raised an eyebrow as he watched his counterpart pour water into the pot and set it on to boil, curious as to what the milk could possibly be for.

"Pour the noodles in please, Tony." Tony didn't move, staring expectantly at Steve until he finally stopped to look at him.

"What? I'm teaching you how to cook, put the damn noodles in the water." He chuckled, a startled smirk brightening up Iron Man's face.

"Language." Steve smacked Tony playfully and sighed as the macaroni noodles began to simmer, adding in the cheese and stirring with a big wooden spoon. Stark reached in to playfully peck Steve on the neck, nibbling gently as he continued to watch his spouse cook.

"Does your noodle always need a milky white substance?" He teased, gesturing toward the milk with his hands though Steve blushed deeply at the lewd remark. Leave it to a Stark to make cooking mac and cheese into something filthy.

"It keeps it thick and creamy, Tony don't be…" Steve trailed off, realizing as soon as the words came out of his mouth that he'd walked right into it. Tony howled with laugher, winking at his blushing partner and pulling the soldier closer to his body.

"Oh, it is, is it? Why don't you show me, Stevie." Tony's lips suddenly seemed very inviting, beckoning to Steve as he leaned in for a taste and wrapped his arms around the billionaire's waist lovingly. Steve poured in the milk and quickly turned the burner down so he could give more of his attention to his significant other, who was apparently in a highly celebratory mood. Tony had Steve pinned up against the wall in no time, groping every inch of that insanely muscular body that was all his and no one else's.

"Steve." It was a whisper, a delicate one. Steve knew good and well that it meant 'I love you' and he nuzzled into Stark's face, threading their fingers together and yawning. Tony kissed the tip of his nose, chocolate eyes gently asking if he was sleepy.

"You wanna go to bed?" Steve was certain Tony would have scooped him up and carried him if he'd let him but he had a dinner to finish and there was no way he wanted to cut time with their new family off short for the night. Not after everything they had been through to bring Peter home.

"Yes and no. I want to feed my husband and play with my son first." Tony laughed and turned off the stove, grabbing some plates and forks while Steve used the wooden spoon to dish out the servings.

"Let's eat then." They walked over to Peter and Gwen in the living room, who were happy as they could be. Peter was curled up against Gwen, his play keys in hand as if he were showing her how to use them. Gwen was paying him attention…or at least as much attention as another six month old could, though her big green eyes were growing heavy. Peter didn't seem so tired, wiggling and kicking his legs around until he noticed that she was falling asleep. Tony didn't know what it was while he was watching this from the couch, but he thought it almost seemed like Peter didn't want to fall behind his new little friend. The child quickly closed those adorable hazel eyes, and the next thing either man knew the babies were asleep and snuggling on the ultra-soft penthouse carpet.

"Oh, Tony take a picture, that's so cute!" Steve exclaimed between mouthfuls of food, Tony eagerly pulling out his phone and snapping several shots of the adorable scene before them. He was definitely going to have to send these to Captain Stacy.

"So much for playing with Pete, huh?" He chuckled, wrapping an arm around Steve's shoulders and kissing his temple lightly. Steve shrugged and yawned once more.

"Little guy has the right idea." Tony watched silently as the love of his life began to drift toward sleep, pulling a blanket around his super solider and curling into his side. Tony didn't know how he'd suddenly gone from having no one to having everything he'd ever wanted...but now that he had it he'd be damned if he ever let it go again.


	14. Chapter 14

Dr. Connor's was sitting in the observatory of his home in a terrible, terrible mood. His boss, Norman Osborn was deteriorating quickly. The retroviral hypodysplasia he'd inherited from his own father was killing him faster than anyone had dared expect, and not only did he want to save his own life, but he wanted to save the future of his little boy Harry. Because the venom extracted from Richard Parker's spiders was only making him sicker, the weight of a cure was falling upon the good doctor's shoulders. The decay rate algorithm, gifted to Dr. Connor's via Tony Stark had helped to regrow the limb of Freddy the mouse…but they were nowhere near ready for human trials…the mouse had not even been under observation for longer than a night or two. There was still no telling yet what the side effects would be.

He was torn. Connors knew that because of his refusal to begin human trials early Osborn was having his men take the formula to the veteran's hospital and by no means was that ethical. If he were going to stop that from happening there was only one person he could test on by his own moral standard…himself. He was sweaty, shaking…his nerves getting the best of him as he stared at the syringe full of green liquid. It was a terrifying thought…he could die. However, at the very heart of him Connors had always been a good man, and he'd rather lose his own life as opposed to the lives of those who had fought for his very freedom. This was his only choice. His only wish was that somehow his colleague's son, Peter Parker, would live to accomplish what he and Richard hadn't. Dr. Connor's was unaware that said child was now under the care of the very man who had solved the equation, nor was he aware that the spider's venom had worked on Peter…and maybe if he had he'd have put the syringe down. The decay rate algorithm wasn't enough to perfect the lizard DNA the way it had with the spiders, it had been done all wrong…and yet, there was no way of knowing until he jabbed the needle into his amputated stub; and that's precisely what he did. He screamed, his body writhing in agony as the liquid coursed hard and fast through his veins, his body alight with fire. Dr. Connor's vision went grey and he was sure he was dying, his eyes closing involuntarily as the pain darkened his world…possibly forever.

Meanwhile, Tony and Steve were sitting in Bucky Barnes office at Social Services and neither man had ever been happier to be inside that wretched building. Peter was asleep in his carry on car seat, which was sitting beside Steve, and Tony was bouncing little Gwen in his arms as she played curiously with his facial hair. Bucky was pouring over paperwork as they sat there, trying to make sure they had absolutely everything in option to finalize this adoption. This was the moment they had been waiting for for what felt like forever…Peter was finally going to be their son, no one would be able to say differently now.

"Please fill this out if you're changing his name." James said slowly, sliding the document over to Steve since his arms weren't full at the moment. He and Tony had already long since discussed this, it wouldn't be right to change his first name on him this late in the game. Peter responded to his name and had been for months now and it was the only name either parent had called him since they'd first brought him home, it would be a hard transition on all of them. That being said, they had decided to change his middle and last name and Steve's heart was full of so much happiness as he stuck the pen to paper. With a few strokes of ink Peter Benjamin Parker was legally Peter James-Buchanan Stark. Steve locked eyes with Tony, as if to make sure this name was still alright with him and then tentatively handed the paper over to Bucky after they each signed it.

"I…this is flattering but…I don't deserve it. No child deserves the name of a murderer." Bucky said quietly upon gazing at the certificate, unresolved guilt rushing to the surface as he thought about all the things he had had to do under HYDRA's control. Those are the things he remembered, despite being unable to recall any of his past life. James Barnes was quite possibly the guiltiest man on the face of this Earth. It broke Steve's heart in half.

"Buck, look at me. If there is one thing you are, it's good. Anyone who has a problem with that can talk to me. Nothing you did with HYDRA was your fault, and we didn't name Peter after the Winter Soldier. We named him after Sergeant Barnes of the 107th, the soldier who risked everything he had to help me defeat the Red Skull…and lost everything doing it." It was a nice sentiment, though it didn't appear like Bucky believed him very much.

"Sign here." Was all he said, pointing to the final document…the one they had been craving the entire time. Tony's eyes were on Gwen, whose big green eyes were staring into his deep brown ones. She was smiling, her tiny fingers still attempting to tug on his beard though it was trimmed much too short for that. He wondered what was so interesting to both children about how he cut his facial hair, his eyes wandering to his sleeping little boy. One more signature and he would become his only child…only son. The next generation of Stark's was sleeping like a rock in his little car seat and all Tony could think in that moment was that he'd been stupid to ever think this was something he didn't want. Especially as he held Gwen, who was becoming like a daughter to him as the days went by. He couldn't sign the paper fast enough. Steve signed not long after Tony and then it was official. Peter was theirs.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Bucky said with a polite smile, though he chuckled after a moment and got up to hug Steve.

"Congratulations, man."

Back in Dr. Connor's conservatory the scientist was coming to. His head was swimming and pounding and he sighed, forcing himself to sit up straight at his desk and attempt to clear his mind. His eyes suddenly landed upon his arm, not his left, but his new appendage that was wrapped in some sort of nesting of sorts. He couldn't contain his excitement, tearing at the confines to reveal a slimy and pale arm. It was miraculous, though it was nowhere near a normal feeling arm and hand. Though he was pleased with the breakthrough he had to call Norman Osborn's assistant, the veteran's hospital was no place for this yet. As he dialed the proper number on his cell phone he suddenly spasmed, as if something from underneath his skin was trying to burst from his body.

"No, no, no, he can't go y-you have to stop him―" He stopped abruptly in horrendous pain as the woman on the other end tried to tell him the person he was looking for was already crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. His mind was made up immediately…something was going very wrong and he had to save those people. It would seem, however, that fate had the opposite in mind.

Tony and Steve wanted to go out to celebrate the official adoption, because to them it was almost the equivalent of the birth of a new baby…their baby. They were going to go out to a nice restaurant in Brooklyn and invite Natasha and Bruce as if it were some sort of christening of the child into the Stark family, though they had to head back to the tower first to change their clothes and get Peter and Gwen's things. So on the way back home Tony called Natasha and told her to meet them at DeStefano's Steak House on 89 Conselyea Street in about fifteen to twenty minutes. Steve dressed Gwen in a little white dress with black leggings, a grey scarf, and a tiny white beanie over her beautiful blonde curls as he packed a bag for her dinner of a small bottle and some strawberry baby food. Tony was busy fixing up Peter while this was happening, styling his messy hair to look like his own and putting him in a small waist coat and slacks that matched the suit he would be wearing. They might have only been going to dinner, but they were going to look damn good doing so, Tony had decided.

"Hot damn…" Was all Steve could say as Tony entered the room with Peter in his arms, both looking very handsome in their formal attire though Tony was striking the solider as a little more than handsome. Tony's thick black hair was gelled back beautifully and his smoldering eyes were looking up and down cap, who had only just finished dressing Gwen and was still without a shirt.

"I could say the same to you." Steve looked happy, he really did, and even a little horny as he gazed hungrily at his husband…but there was something else settling behind those blue eyes and Tony knew better than to ignore it.

"You okay, Stevie?" Steve sighed and reached for a nice shirt from the closet, buttoning it up as he thought about what he was going to say. He didn't want to ruin their perfect day, but for some reason he couldn't put his finger on there was a pit in his stomach, as if something bad were going to happen.

"I just feel like something is going on, and I don't know what. It's the same feeling I had right before the whole thing with Loki went down." Tony wrapped an arm around Steve and kissed his temple gently.

"Now isn't the time to worry about it, Steve. You're probably just stressed about what's going to happen with Fury. The fact that he hasn't retaliated yet is a little unnerving." This was true, Steve was more than a little uptight about what the future of the Avengers was going to hold now that they had royally pissed off the head of SHIELD but also, Rogers had never been one to distrust his instincts, so he decided to keep his eyes and ears open once they left for the restaurant. Tony put cap's shield in the car and slapped on his tech bracelet that would immediately send his Iron Man suit to him if he needed it, just to make his partner relax a little bit and they left toward Brooklyn in silence.

The mood lightened once more, however, when they saw Natasha and Clint waiting on them at the restaurant. Each man kissed Nat on the cheek and gave Clint a hug, thanking them both for being there. Stark rose an eyebrow at Natasha as they sat Peter and Gwen in their high chairs and sat down to look at their menus.

"Not the man I was expecting on your arm. Did you finally work Bruce a little too hard in that little black dress?" He teased, earning a smirk from the Russian as she took a sip of her dirty martini.

"You can't work Bruce too hard…his endurance is outstanding." She purred and glanced at Tony seductively, though it was understood that she was messing around. Tony pretended to gag and let out a chuckle.

"That's more about the green guy than I cared to know." Natasha laughed and took another sip of her drink.

"No, he's actually sick. I didn't want to leave him but he insisted I get out of the house…I think he's afraid of what might happen if he blacks out." Steve opened his mouth to offer to come and see if there was anything he could do to help when Clint decided to interject.

"Congratulations on the adoption you guys. Never thought when we pulled him out of that bloodbath that he'd end up going home permanently with you two. I'm happy we didn't have to send him off someplace, you know. It's a good ending to a terrible start for the little guy." Steve sighed and nodded, watching Peter lovingly as he played with his toys quietly. He couldn't imagine how his life would be different if he'd had to be raised by Maxwell Dillon and god only knows how many other bad homes he could possibly have landed in.

"Yeah, we just sort of fell for him. You can't raise a child from 0 to 6 months and expect them to not feel like your own. That's what Nick just can't seem to understand." Barton nodded but the table quieted as their waitress came to take their orders. She started with Natasha, and while the assassin was inquiring about the soup and salad menu something on one of the many restaurant TV's caught Steve's eye. It was on channel 12 news and there appeared to be some sort of chaos going down on the Brooklyn Bridge about five miles away from where they were eating right now.

"Tony…" The couple locked eyes for a moment before Stark followed his husbands gaze to the television. It appeared as if an enormous mutated lizard was assaulting civilians stopped in traffic on the bridge and several automobiles were being torn to shreds by the giant claws of the creature, who was in no way being slowed down by the police. Steve almost wanted to say I told you so but Tony was already rising from his seat, alerting Natasha and Clint to the situation and scooping the children into his arms. He turned to apologize to the waitress, but she knew good and well who they were and she smiled.

"Go get 'em." The four of them bolted from the facility and ran toward their cars, Steve promising the others they would be there as soon as they could find someplace to drop off Gwen and Peter. Steve looked at the clock in his car, they were just in time for Bucky to be off of work and he lived in the area. When they swung by, they left their car in the drive way and Tony pressed a button on his bracelet while Steve was inside making sure Bucky was okay to watch the kids for a few hours.

"JARVIS, suit now!" In no time at all Tony's gleaming red and gold suit was attached to his body, JARVIS intact and ready to go. Steve ran outside quickly and retrieved his shield from their backseat, climbing up onto Tony's back and closing his eyes as Iron Man shot off in the direction of the danger.

When they landed on the bridge Natasha and Clint were already kicking some ass, though it was apparent that they needed a little more firepower against a giant lizard, which Tony was happy to provide them with. He reared his arm back and shot a blast from his repulsor beam, sending the lizard flying back a few feet. It hissed and snarled it's fang like teeth at Tony, who almost wanted to laugh. It looked like a dinosaur to him.

"Uh oh…somebody's been a bad lizard." Dr. Connors picked up an SUV and chucked it at Stark in retaliation, Tony's heart nearly stopping in his chest as he heard a child scream from within it. The force of the car had knocked them off the bridge and out across the water and Tony was fighting very hard to make sure he didn't allow himself to drop the car as he struggled to remain in the air. Even in his suit a freaking van was incredibly heavy and if he ran out of power in his attempt at keeping them afloat this kid was going to die.

"Steve!" Cap turned around immediately, leaving Agents Barton and Romanoff to the lizard once more as he jumped off of the bridge and onto the car in his husband's arms. The extra weight almost did Tony in, a growl of pain tearing from his chest as his suit creaked and screamed at him in exhaustion. Steve tried to be quick, ripping the car door right off of its hinges and climbing inside in search of the child. There was a little girl inside the car, terrified and choking on smoke.

"Sweetie, do you know who I am? I'm here to help." The child turned around to face him, her wide blue eyes full of panic.

"Captain America!" Steve smiled sweetly and extended his hand to her, noticing her name written on the side of a backpack that was in the seat next to her. Her name was Sarah.

"That's right, c'mon Sarah. I need you to be quick, okay honey? Iron Man is outside protecting us, but you need to come with me so we can make sure he's safe too alright?" She nodded, taking hold of his hand and allowing him to pull her against his chest as he tried to maneuver around the rest of the seats and get back out before the car, which was catching fire, exploded.

"U-Ugh Steve….a little faster please!" Tony barked, a new fear rising as he watched the car become consumed by flame. The fire wouldn't burn through his suit, but he knew once the sparks reached the gas tank this was going to be over for all of them unless they did something fast.

"STEVEN!" He screamed as his suit finally gave out, dropping them a few feet right as Steve leapt from the car and grabbed onto the side of the bridge with one arm, the child wrapped securely in his other.

"Sir…we are now running on emergency back-up power." JARVIS dutifully informed Tony, who was just barely hovering in the air as he let the SUV drop into the water. He knew this power wouldn't get him much of anything, but he had to at least get Steve and little Sarah out of harm's way. While Tony was fighting to get the three of them safely back on the bridge, Natasha and Clint were experiencing some issues of their own. Barton was down to only one arrow, and all of his others had merely blown bits of flesh away that were regenerated in a few short moments. Natasha was injured and out for the count…so this final arrow was going to have to count for something.

"Alright you son of a bitch…" Clint had his arrow out and ready, he was aiming for the lizard's face this time. Even if it didn't kill it, it could at least buy them some time until they could contact the rest of the Avengers. Ready…aim…shit! Right as Clint had fired the arrow Tony had emerged with Steve and the little girl and used the last of his power to zap the lizard about twenty feet with his chest piece.

"Damn it, Stark!" Barton roared, becoming even more infuriated when Tony looked over at him and asked 'What?', an indication that he hadn't been paying attention whatsoever. He was about to go on a rant about how Tony's negligence had just cost them their final line of defense when Steve suddenly piped up.

"Guys…where is the lizard?" Dr. Connors had slithered off towards the sewers to recuperate, Tony's blast having weakened him considerably. But there was one thing that Connors had that they didn't…and that was the element of surprise. He knew who every one of those avengers were and they had no earthly idea what or who he was. If SHIELD was coming after him then fine, so be it. It wasn't going to be hard, he thought, to take every one of them down piece by little piece.

Steve cursed under his breath and ran to Natasha, who had taken quite the blow. The lizard had dug his claws into her chest pretty deep and she was still bleeding. Clint lifted her into his arms and headed back toward their car.

"I'll take her home to Bruce. He may be sick but I know he can dress these wounds better than any of us can. You did great, Nat." He soothed her, though she looked severely pissed off that she'd allowed that to happen. She'd fought the best she could with what she had, but she was underprepared and it cost her one of her favorite dresses.

"Got enough power to get us back to Buck's?" Steve asked tiredly as Sarah was reunited with her father, who thanked them in bouts of tears. Tony's faceplate opened and he smirked sheepishly at his partner.

"Uh…we're gonna need a taxi." Steve sighed and closed his eyes, feeling Tony's arms snake around him playfully in an attempt at an apology. He knew Steve didn't want the attention they were going to get when broken and battered super heroes who happened to be married decided to ride through New York City with public transport. Especially not when one was Tony Stark, paparazzi was merciless.

"Hey…could be worse, I could be drunk and naked and in need of a taxi….you know me, that's totally believable." Steve tried to shoot him a stern, cold look but it dissolved into a ghost of a smile.

"Shut up Shell-Head, let's go home."


End file.
